Olympedia – Four, Open
Despite the disqualification of the Russians from first and third place in the 4-man event at Sochi in 2014, the Germans could still not manage a podium finish in what was a disappointing competition for them. Since 2014, however, they had won three golds, two silvers and a bronze in the three World Championships, including a clean sweep in 2017 when Francesco Friedrich and Johannes Lochner shared the gold medal. Furthermore, they ended the 2017-18 World Cup season occupying the first three places with Lochner piloting the winning team, as the Germans came to the PyeongChang also occupying the top three world ranking places, with Lochner 1st, Friedrich 2nd, and Nico Walther 3rd.
Lochner, a nephew of the 1972 2-man silver medalist Rudi Lochner, won four of the seasons’ eight World Cup races, while runner-up Friedrich failed to register a win but, thanks to a consistent season-long campaign, was runner-up. Germany took the bronze medal after Walther and his crew won the final race of the season to snatch overall third place from Canada’s Justin Kripps by a single point.
The Latvian four of Oskars Melbardis, Daumants Dreiskens, Arvis Vilkaste and Janis Strenga were the surprise winners at Sochi in 2014, and defended their title in PyeongChang. Since their Olympic triumph, they had finished third at the 2015 World Championships, and won their first World title the following year. They came to the Games having finished fifth in the 2017-18 World Cup.
Friedrich was the joint gold medal winner in the 2-man bob event at PyeongChang and, following the German women’s success, was keen to make it three golds out of three for Germany at these Games. All three of their sleds set good times in official 4-man training, as did the local hero Won Yun-Jong. The fastest time in official training, however, was 49.07 by Benjamin Maier of Austria. That time was bettered on the very first run of heat one, however, as Won, despite being world ranked number 49, set the pace with a new track record 48.65.
The three Germans all followed each other in the first heat starting order. First to go was Johannes Lochner, and he moved into second place 0.3 seconds behind Won. Next to go was Friedrich, and he established yet another new track record 48.54 to take the lead. Walther slotted into third place with a 49.74 run, with Melbardis fourth and Canada’s Justin Kripps fifth, despite setting a new start record.
The two Germans, Friedrich and Walther, had the fastest two runs of heat two, with the former’s 49.01 being 0.15 faster than his compatriot. Switzerland’s Rico Peter also registered the same time as Walther, 49.16, but ended the day lying in joint fifth place. Won held on to second place overall after a 49.19, and Walther held on to third. Despite setting a start record 4.82 in heat one, and being joint fastest starter in heat two, Canada’s Justin Kripps let a great chance to move into a medal place slip away.
At the half-way stage, however, Kripps, the other 2-man joint gold medalist, was fourth, with three men, Lochner, Melbardis and Rico Peter, sharing fifth, 0.66 seconds behind the leader Friedrich, who was on track to make it two golds for him personally at the Games, and three for Germany. Friedrich was first to go in heat three and put in another great performance with the fastest run of the heat, 48.76 as he increased his lead over Won to 0.42s with Walter a further 7/100ths behind in third. Peter and Kripps shared fourth place but nearly 8/10ths behind the leader.
The track was running at its slowest in the fourth and final heat, with the ice temperature at -5.8C, the warmest of the event, as the field was cut from 29 to 20. Rico Peter registered the fastest run of the heat, but none of the contenders could match the consistency of Friedrich, whose 49.54 took the gold medal 0.53s ahead of Won Yun-Jong and Nico Walther, who shared the silver medal in the second tie for a bobsleigh medal of the Games. For Switzerland’s Peter, he had the consolation of finishing fourth but, sadly, it still maintained Switzerland’s 4-man medal drought going back to 2006. Despite setting a start record for the second time, Justin Kripps could only finish sixth overall in what was a disappointing event for him.
For Friedrich, and team-mates Candy Bauer, Martin Grothkopp and Thorsten Margis, they had the honour of leading Germany to the third and final bobsleigh gold of the Games, the first time since 2006 that one country had won all three golds at the same Games. Friedrich and Margis also became the first men since André Lange and Kevin Kuske at Turin 2006, to win the 2- and 4-man golds at the same Games, while Won Yun-Jong had the honour of piloting the first Asian crew to an Olympic bob medal. Pride and place, however, was reserved for Kevin Kuske, a member of the German silver-medal winning team, who became the most decorated Olympic bobsleigher of all time, with his sixth medal (four golds and two silvers), stretching back to 2002.