02/17/26 03:29:00
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02/17 15:28 CST Johannes Lochner leads German 2-man Olympic bobsled sweep,
Frank Del Duca 4th for US
Johannes Lochner leads German 2-man Olympic bobsled sweep, Frank Del Duca 4th
for US
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Sports Writer
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) --- Germany left no doubt, again: It dominates
the men's bobsled world.
Johannes Lochner left no doubt, either: In his farewell season, he's going out
as the most unbeatable bobsledder on the planet.
Making it look as easy as one, two, three --- or eins, zwei, drei, if you
prefer --- the Germans swept the medals in the two-man race at the Milan
Cortina Olympics on Tuesday night, a show of absolute dominance. It was the
second Olympic sweep in bobsled history; the other was by the Germans, also in
two-man, at the Beijing Games four years ago.
And leading the way was Lochner, who got his first gold medal while posting the
biggest Olympic two-man winning margin in nearly a half-century. The U.S. was
the closest to thwarting the sweep; Frank Del Duca and Josh Williamson were
fourth, just one spot from bronze.
"There's nothing better than when a plan works out," Lochner said as he wrapped
his arm around brakeman Georg Fleischhauer. "Speechless ... feeling so much
happiness. I cannot describe this."
In what he says was the next-to-last race of his international career, Lochner
teamed with Fleischhauer to finish the four-run competition in 3 minutes, 39.70
seconds for his third Olympic medal. Lochner --- the favorite in this weekend's
four-man race, which he plans as his finale --- won by 1.34 seconds, the most
lopsided margin in the Olympic two-man race in 46 years.
"To have this big a lead, it's unbelievable. We did it," Lochner said.
Francesco Friedrich, the gold medalist in two- and four-man at each of the last
two Olympics, partnered with Alexander Schuller and was second in 3:41.04. Adam
Ammour finished off the sweep, teaming with Alexander Schaller to win bronze in
3:41.52.
For the U.S., Del Duca and Josh Williamson were fourth in 3:41.96 --- matching
the second-best effort by an American two-man sled in 70 years. Steven Holcomb
and Steven Langton won silver at the 2014 Sochi Games, and Todd Hays and
Garrett Hines were fourth at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
The Romanian team of Mihai Tentea and George Iordache were fifth, matching that
country's best two-man Olympic finish since 1972.
Counting the World Cup season and the Olympics, there were 24 medals up for
grabs in two-man races this winter. Germany won 23 of them --- including the
three shiniest ones.
Britain's Brad Hall got a bronze medal at the World Cup two-man race in St.
Moritz, Switzerland, last month. Otherwise, every gold, silver and bronze went
to the Germans this season.
And in this Olympic four-year cycle, Germany won 34 out of 35 two-man races at
the World Cup, world championship and Olympic levels --- taking 85 of a
possible 105 medals.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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