Bob Emperor Francesco Frederick enjoys the sun shining on the Yanqing Ice Track and personally hangs gold medals around the necks of his pushers. With his double Olympic double, the 31-year-old secured his place in the history books, something no pilot had ever been able to do before. After winning two, the Saxon won gold in the big sled on Sunday, just as he did four years ago – and is on par with icon Andre Lange in terms of Olympic victories.
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“It was very difficult. The others were at the top level, we had to do everything we could. The boys were great. If it hadn’t been there, we wouldn’t have been able to do it,” Frederick said ard, The team headed straight for Beijing, where brakeman Thorsten Margis waved the German flag at the closing ceremony. Margis said, “It’s representative of all those pushers who always fall a little down the back. It’s the icing on the cake, I’ll enjoy it for everyone.”
In the German double breakthrough, Friedrich overtook Johannes Löchner, who was 0.37 seconds slower overall, in second place. BC Bad Feelenback’s Christoph Hafer finished fourth behind Justin Cripps of Canada. For the German Bobsleigh and Luge Association, it was the 16th medal at the Chinese Winter Games. “I’ve had a lot of experience, but don’t have such a balance sheet, you can’t believe it,” said CEO Thomas Schwab.
Andre Lang bows to his successor in distant Germany. On ARD, Thuringian said, “Franz has dominated everything for the past four years. Congratulations to the Franz team.” In four Olympic victories, Frederick and Lang are now tied. Overall, however, Lang still has another silver medal from the Vancouver Games in 2010, making him the most successful pilot in Olympic history. It could trample Frederick and Cortina D’Ampezzo in Milan in four years.
If Friedrich continues to dominate, Lochner, who is also driving at world class level, will probably be second again. Berchtesgadener acknowledged that himself. “I’m so happy with the silver, we can’t blame ourselves,” said the 31-year-old. “Franz is incredibly strong. He is domineering. I have a lot of respect for what he gives. He is impenetrable to anyone in the world.”
At half-time Friedrich had a short lead of 0.03 seconds over Löchner, with the pilot of BSC Sachsen Oberenberg making the initial decision in the third run. Due to a much better start than Lochner, Friedrich came close to his internal rival’s track record of 58.13 seconds and was 0.20 seconds ahead of the final.
Frederick again set the best time in the last run and extended his lead over Lochner to 0.37 seconds. Hafer missed out on his second bronze medal by just six hundredths of a second, thus marking the first German triple victory in the Big Sled. In the two-man bob, German pilots took the first three places. In the Olympic history of bobsledding, only Andreas Osterl (1952), Eugenio Monti (Italy/1968), Meinhard Nehmer (1976), Wolfgang Höppe (1984), Lange (2006) and Frederick 2018 in Pyeongchang have won in both disciplines . Now the Saxons were the first to repeat this coup.
Francesco Frederick is the first pilot in the world to win Olympic double gold for the second time. This has not happened in the history of the sport since 1924. After a final fourth run in a four-man bobsleigh on Sunday at the sliding center Yanking, BSC Sachsen Oberenberg’s record was 0.37 seconds ahead of world champion, Johannes Löchner of Berchtesgaden.
“It was very difficult because the others were at the top level. We had to give everything to win the gold,” Frederick said in an interview ard, who especially thanked his teammates Thorsten Margis, Candy Bauer and Alexander Schuler: “It was so tight on the track. Had we not been able to take the lead from the top, it would have been an even bigger thriller. We gave everything.” ” Canadian Justin Cripps and his team prevented a German triple success. BC Bad Feilenbach’s Christoph Hafer missed out on bronze and finished fourth.
In the Olympic history of bobsledding, only Andreas Osterl (1952), Eugenio Monti (Italy/1968), Meinhard Nehmer (1976), Wolfgang Höppe (1984), Andre Lang (2006) and Frederick 2018 in Pyeongchang won in both disciplines Is. Now the Saxons were the first to repeat this coup.
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