From Altenberg, GER
(January 17, 2026) – In a career that was already great, Johannes Lochner capped off a career year in Altenberg with a dominating win to take his third career Crystal Globe.
In a race that otherwise saw a tight battle for the medals, Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer took a huge lead in the first heat and held it on their way to a near half-second victory over teammates Adam Ammour and Benedikt Hertel.
Ammour and Hertel had their own large advantage over Jinsu Kim and Hyeonggeun Kim after the first heat, with Francesco Friedrich and Alexander Schüller just behind in fourth. Brad Hall and Taylor Lawrence and the team of Frank Del Duca and Boone Niederhofer also lingered around in the medal discussion.
Friedrich came into the second heat of what could be his final tw0-man race on his home track in fourth place, trailing Kim by .02. Friedrich’s first run was uncharacteristically bumpy, while his second effort was nearly flawless as he slid to a big advantage over Hall, then held that lead ahead of Kim.
Ammour’s second effort was messier than his first. Despite a good push and a decent slide, the German nearly came all the way back to Friedrich, but held on by .06 to guarantee himself no worse than silver.
But Lochner’s second run was somehow better than his first, the quickest of the competition as he won by .45 over Ammour.
The win was the sixth in seven two-man races on the 2025/2026 season for Lochner.
Ammour medaled in six of seven races on the season, while Friedrich’s bronze tied for the worst finish of his season.
Kim took fourth, with Hall fifth, and Del Duca sixth.
Canada’s Taylor Austin and Luka Stoikos slid to 17th place, two spots ahead of USA’s Kris Horn and Hunter Powell, who were 19th.
Lochner’s win secured his third World Cup title in the last four years, ahead of Friedrich and Ammour, who were second and third. Despite not medaling on the season, USA’s Del Duca never finished worse than seventh and was fourth overall, with Kim and Hall fifth and sixth.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Lochner / Fleischhauer | GER | 13 | 5.19 | 5.20 | 55.08 | 55.05 | 1:50.13 |
| 2 | Ammour / Hertel | GER | 10 | 5.30 | 5.28 | 55.19 | 55.39 | 1:50.58 |
| 3 | Friedrich / Schüller | GER | 9 | 5.21 | 5.18 | 55.49 | 55.15 | 1:50.64 |
| 4 | Kim / Kim | KOR | 11 | 5.20 | 5.22 | 55.47 | 55.64 | 1:51.11 |
| 5 | Hall / Lawrence | GBR | 8 | 5.29 | 5.32 | 55.53 | 55.61 | 1:51.14 |
| 6 | Del Duca / Niederhofer | USA | 5 | 5.34 | 5.37 | 55.58 | 55.74 | 1:51.32 |
| 7 | Follador / Vögele | SUI | 14 | 5.40 | 5.38 | 55.87 | 55.61 | 1:51.48 |
| 8 | Tentea / Iordache | ROU | 7 | 5.43 | 5.40 | 55.79 | 55.72 | 1:51.51 |
| 9 | Rohner / Hersperger | SUI | 2 | 5.42 | 5.41 | 55.88 | 55.73 | 1:51.61 |
| 10 | Treichl / Sares | AUT | 4 | 5.34 | 5.44 | 55.86 | 55.94 | 1:51.80 |
| 11 | Baumgartner / Obou | ITA | 6 | 5.42 | 5.41 | 56.01 | 55.81 | 1:51.82 |
| 12 | Heinrich / Hauterville | FRA | 15 | 5.35 | 5.42 | 56.00 | 55.88 | 1:51.88 |
| 13 | Kalenda / Ungurs | LAT | 12 | 5.37 | 5.34 | 55.98 | 55.97 | 1:51.95 |
| 14 | Mandlbauer / Bertchler | AUT | 16 | 5.31 | 5.30 | 55.96 | 56.06 | 1:52.02 |
| 15 | Wesselink / Franjic | NED | 3 | 5.29 | 5.31 | 56.21 | 55.90 | 1:52.11 |
| 16 | Behounek / Rapp | CZE | 18 | 5.43 | 5.43 | 56.26 | 56.03 | 1:52.29 |
| 17 | Kranz / Tschofen | LIE | 19 | 5.45 | 5.45 | 56.41 | 56.02 | 1:52.43 |
| 18 | Austin / Stoikos | CAN | 17 | 5.47 | 5.47 | 56.19 | 56.32 | 1:52.51 |
| 19 | Horn / Powell | USA | 1 | 5.28 | 5.22 | 56.73 | 56.11 | 1:52.84 |
| 20 | Rohn / Toure | SUI | 20 | 5.64 | 5.73 | 56.51 | 56.54 | 1:53.05 |