2016/2017 IBSF World Cup – Two-Man Bobsled – Race 3

From Altenberg, GER

Like in the men’s skeleton race earlier in the day, the two-man bobsled competition saw a German destroy the track record on his way to a gold medal.

In the first run Francesco Friedrich missed the start record by .03, but smashed the track record by .16. In the second heat he was .24 slower, but still had the fastest run in the heat to cruise to a gold medal in Altenberg.

Russian Alexander Kasjanov finished with a silver medal after German Nico Walther failed to find speed on his second run to drop from second to sixth place.

Oskers Kibermanis finished with a career best bronze medal, moving up from fifth after the first run. Benjamin Maier, who came into the second run tied with Kibermanis, finished fourth, while Yunjong Won finished fifth.

Steven Holcomb finished eighth for the United States. The American had a near flawless drive in his first run, but a few small errors in the second trip down the track moved him back from seventh. Teammate Codie Bascue finished 17th.

Canada’s only two-man pilot in Altenberg was Justin Kripps, after teammate Chris Spring had to be scratched due to injury. Kripps would go on to finish 14th after coming into the second run in 16th.

A tough weekend for Great Britain continued, with a second crash in as many days. Bruce Tasker finished the first run in 15th place, and had a great second run going. Tasker flipped late in the run, ejecting Toby Olubi in the process to receive a disqualification.  Lamin Deen did complete his first run, but finished 21st.

Former World Cup champion Oskars Melbardis of Latvia made his first World Cup start of the year after sitting out the first part of the season rehabbing after summer back surgery.

Results:

Pos Name Nation Bib Start 1 Start 2 Run 1 Run 2 Total
1 Friedrich / Grothkopp GER 8 5.15 5.18 54.48 54.72 1:49.20
2 Kasjanov / Pushkarev RUS 9 5.33 5.33 54.77 55.07 1:49.84
3 Kibermanis / Miknis LAT 16 5.18 5.15 54.93 54.97 1:49.90
4 Maier / Sammer AUT 2 5.22 5.21 54.93 55.05 1:49.98
5 Won / Seo KOR 7 5.24 5.22 54.92 55.07 1:49.99
6 Walther / Kuske GER 4 5.28 5.31 54.75 55.31 1:50.06
7 Stulnev / Kondratenko RUS 14 5.37 5.39 55.19 55.11 1:50.30
8 Holcomb / Valdes USA 15 5.35 5.34 55.01 55.32 1:50.33
9 Zalims / Jansons LAT 17 5.25 5.24 55.14 55.25 1:50.39
10 Peter / Friedli SUI 6 5.30 5.30 55.04 55.36 1:50.40
11 Lochner / Rasp GER 13 5.21 5.23 55.33 55.10 1:50.43
12 Kim / Jun KOR 12 5.32 5.36 55.01 55.48 1:50.49
13 Melbardis / Dreiskens LAT 24 5.35 5.41 55.19 55.38 1:50.57
14 Kripps / Lumsden CAN 11 5.22 5.25 55.30 55.33 1:50.63
15 Andrianov / Malykh RUS 3 5.38 5.37 55.20 55.59 1:50.79
16 Hefti / Ferrari SUI 20 5.32 5.34 55.29 55.56 1:50.85
17 Bascue / Kinney USA 10 5.32 5.38 55.46 55.49 1:50.95
18 Dvorak / Nosek CZE 19 5.19 5.19 55.50 55.47 1:50.97
19 Vrba / Suchy CZE 5 5.35 5.36 55.56 56.00 1:51.56
20 Bertazzo / Costa ITA 22 5.47 55.64
21 Deen / Blanchet GBR 1 5.35 55.69
22 Treichl / Esterhammer AUT 21 5.35 55.94
23 Grigore / Craciun ROU 23 5.50 56.55
DSQ Tasker / Olubi GBR 18 5.15 5.17 55.15 DSQ