From Lillehammer, NOR
(February 9, 2026) – Johannes Lochner became the winningest European Champion in four-man bobsled history with his fifth title on Sunday as he edged out Francesco Friedrich in the penultimate World Cup race of the season.
Lochner trailed Friedrich by .05 after the first heat. Just behind them were Brad Hall and Michael Vogt, both hoping for a mistake from one of the two Germans to move up the pecking order.
Great Britain’s Hall put down a second run that would have been the quickest in the first heat. That gave him the lead from Adam Ammour and put his sights on Switzerland’s Michael Vogt.
Vogt, still coming back from injuries suffered in a crash in Altenberg, saw his team give him a strong start of their own. And while Vogt’s second slide wasn’t quite as quick as Hall’s, it was enough to draw even with the Brit and move into a tie for the lead with the two big Germans still to go.
Lochner was next. His team gave him a 4.92 start, the quickest of the day to that point. Lochner answered with a drive that may not have looked the prettiest but it was the fastest of the competition. That gave him the lead with Friedrich to go.
Friedrich’s squad answered with a big push of their own, .01 quicker than Lochner. The drive, though, was a bit messy by Friedrich’s lofty standards. Friedrich bled time slowly throughout his trip down the 1994 Olympic track, and finished .05 behind Lochner to win silver, with Lochner gold.
The win for Lochner was his 13th four-man World Cup gold medal and 40th World Cup medal in the discipline. Friedrich’s silver was the 61st of his career.
The race also doubled as the European Championship. Lochner won his fifth European crown, a record for four-man bobsled.
Adam Ammour couldn’t quite match the effort of his two German counterparts. The team gave him a pair of strong starts but Ammour couldn’t quite get down the Lillehammer track clean. His two efforts were enough for a top five, however.
Italy’s Patrick Baumgartner’s team was strong off the top, and Baumgartner slid to a solid sixth place finish, .17 behind Ammour.
Frank Del Duca’s team gave him a pair of 4.98 starts, third quickest in each heat, on their way to a top ten finish in tenth.
Pat Norton’s team gave him a pair of sub-5.10 second starts on their way to a 14th place finish. Teammate Taylor Austin was 17th in the second Canadian sled.
Adam Baird finished 18th in the second British sled.
The big mover in the second heat was Jinsu Kim. His second downtime was a 50.18, the fifth quickest and enough to move him from 11th to seventh
With one race weekend remaining in the World Cup bobsled tour, Francesco Friedrich holds a commanding 61 point lead over Brad Hall in second and 84 point lead over Johannes Lochner in third. Friedrich can clinch the title with a finish of seventh or better next week
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Lochner / Bauer / Wenzel / Fleischhauer | GER | 11 | 4.97 | 4.92 | 50.05 | 49.80 | 1:39.85 |
| 2 | Friedrich / Sommer / Schüller / Straub | GER | 13 | 4.93 | 4.91 | 49.95 | 49.95 | 1:39.90 |
| 3 | Hall / Lawrence / Gulliver / Greenwood | GBR | 9 | 5.03 | 5.00 | 50.12 | 49.93 | 1:40.05 |
| 3 | Vogt / Jones / Haas / Ndiaye | SUI | 10 | 5.01 | 4.98 | 50.08 | 49.97 | 1:40.05 |
| 5 | Ammour / Stadelmann / Hertel / Ammour | GER | 7 | 5.04 | 5.00 | 50.21 | 50.22 | 1:40.43 |
| 6 | Baumgartner / Fantazzini / Mircea / Bilotti | ITA | 4 | 5.07 | 5.04 | 50.24 | 50.36 | 1:40.60 |
| 7 | Kim / Chun / Kim / Lee | KOR | 16 | 5.03 | 5.04 | 50.58 | 50.18 | 1:40.76 |
| 8 | Rohner / Schläpfer / Annen / Hersperger | SUI | 6 | 5.10 | 5.12 | 50.39 | 50.43 | 1:40.82 |
| 9 | Follador / Mariani / Rolli / Juillard | SUI | 12 | 5.07 | 5.09 | 50.46 | 50.44 | 1:40.90 |
| 10 | Del Duca / Vissering / Volker / Mitchell | USA | 8 | 4.98 | 4.98 | 50.57 | 50.46 | 1:41.03 |
| 11 | Heinrich / Lefebvre / Blairon / Hauterville | FRA | 3 | 5.09 | 5.07 | 50.71 | 50.33 | 1:41.04 |
| 12 | Sun / Ding / Ye / An | CHN | 2 | 5.02 | 5.02 | 50.47 | 50.61 | 1:41.08 |
| 13 | Kalenda / Kaufmanis / Miknis / Kaufmanis | LAT | 5 | 5.01 | 5.02 | 50.64 | 50.54 | 1:41.18 |
| 14 | Norton / Evelyn / Bruggeling / Murray-Lawrence | CAN | 1 | 5.09 | 5.06 | 50.63 | 50.70 | 1:41.33 |
| 15 | Vain / Ferri / Prevost / Borges | MON | 20 | 5.14 | 5.16 | 50.77 | 50.70 | 1:41.47 |
| 16 | Tentea / Dinescu / Pacioianu / Iordache | ROU | 14 | 5.12 | 5.12 | 50.75 | 50.74 | 1:41.49 |
| 17 | Austin / Zanette / Eskrick-Parkinson / Gray | CAN | 17 | 5.12 | 5.21 | 50.71 | 50.78 | 1:41.49 |
| 18 | Baird / Hullah / Williams / Butterworth | GBR | 18 | 5.09 | 5.08 | 50.83 | 50.81 | 1:41.64 |
| 19 | Li / Wei / Shi / Wu | CHN | 15 | 5.16 | 5.17 | 50.97 | 50.92 | 1:41.89 |
| 20 | Kranz / Bühler / Lenherr / Tschofen | LIE | 19 | 5.27 | 5.28 | 51.06 | 50.97 | 1:42.03 |
| 21 | Brown / Harris / John / John | TTO | 21 | 5.17 | 51.29 |