Johannes Lochner won his second title at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Games, after defeating his compatriot and Pyeongchang and Beijing champion Francesco Friedrich in the men's four-man bobsleigh. For the 35-year-old Lochner, this was his first gold medal in the discipline, but earlier in Italy he also became champion in the two-man bobsleigh, BTA reported.
Before the Olympics, Lochner had no gold, but nevertheless announced several times that he intends to end his career. This gave him extra strength and he started the final descent down the chute with a lead of nearly half a second over Friedrich, finishing in 3:37.57 minutes and 0.57 seconds ahead of his compatriot.
Lochner's crew created another historic moment after Torsten Margis became the only bobsledder with five Olympic titles. He was the champion in the two- and four-man bobsleigh at Pyeongchang 2018 and Beijing 2022. Jorn Wenzel and Georg Fleischauer also won gold medals with Lochner and Margis.
Friedrich, like Lochner at 35, has not announced whether he will continue his career, but this is his first Olympic medal other than gold. He is a four-time champion in two- and four-man bobsleigh, and also has a remarkable 18 world and nine European titles.
In third place was Michael Vogt, who brought Switzerland its first Olympic medal in bobsleigh since Turin 2006. He finished the four runs with a total time of 3:38.64 minutes.
Germany finished the evening of February 17th with a fifth gold medal at the Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina, but also with a triple triumph in the men's doubles bobsleigh. The first three places in the final standings were occupied by German sleds.
The champions are Johannes Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer, who finished with a total time of 3:39.70 minutes. Second place went to Francesco Friedrich and Alexander Schuler, who finished 1.34, while bronze went to Adam Amur and Alexander Schaller, who finished 1.82 behind.
Johannes Lochner celebrated his first Olympic victory, displacing his long-time rival Francesco Friedrich into second place. With a comfortable lead of 0.92 seconds over Francesco Friedrich, Johannes Lochner started the fourth and final run of the bobsleigh and looked the favorite. The 35-year-old then steered his bobsleigh with pusher Georg Fleischhauer to gold in extremely confident fashion.