Friedli Wins First EC 2-man Gold as a Pilot

From Sigulda, LAT

Jan. 18, 2020 – Simon Friedli had won gold in his previous life as a brakeman, but since moving to the driver’s seat the Swiss pilot had won a bronze medal but that was it.

In Sigulda he finally struck gold.

Friedli was as consistent as anyone could be, setting equal 50.08 times in both heats on his way to a .41 second victory over Russia’s Rositslav Gaitiukevich.

Friedli’s two runs were the two fastest of the race.

Gaitiukevich finished second, just .04 ahead of Jonas Jannusch in third and only .07 ahead of Mihai Tentea back in sixth.

Davis Kaufmanis finished fourth on his home track, .01 ahead of Philipp Zielasko of Germany and .02 ahead of Tentea.

Oskars Kibermanis, the 2-man Olympic bronze medalist, finished ninth.

Results:

Pos Names Nation Bib Start 1 Start 2 Run 1 Run 2 Total
1 Friedli / Jones SUI 7 4.93 4.92 50.08 50.08 1:40.16
2 Gaitiukevich / Korotkov RUS 13 4.96 4.98 50.17 50.40 1:40.57
3 Jannusch / Kornhardt GER 5 5.00 5.00 50.19 50.42 1:40.61
4 Kaufmanis / Bebriss LAT 9 4.92 4.93 50.28 50.34 1:40.62
5 Zielasko / Luethcke GER 16 4.87 4.95 50.33 50.30 1:40.63
6 Tentea / Daroczi ROU 8 4.99 5.00 50.28 50.36 1:40.64
7 Kuonen / Dörig SUI 12 4.92 4.93 50.45 50.41 1:40.86
8 Illmann / Fleischhauer GER 11 4.98 5.01 50.39 50.52 1:40.91
9 Melbardis / Dambis LAT 4 5.00 5.03 50.39 50.56 1:40.95
10 Kuzmenko / Baklanov RUS 18 4.97 .00 50.54 50.71 1:41.25
11 Hannighofer / Hammers GER 10 4.90 4.95 50.82 50.74 1:41.56
12 Moulinier / Vogel SUI 1 5.08 5.08 50.72 50.93 1:41.65
13 Lorenzoni / Hufschmid SUI 17 5.07 5.08 50.83 50.86 1:41.69
14 Bredikhin / Isakov RUS 6 5.08 5.10 50.81 50.90 1:41.71
14 Cipulis / Kleinbergs LAT 14 4.98 4.98 51.81 50.90 1:41.71
16 Voloskov / Zhestiankin RUS 2 5.23 5.26 50.84 51.04 1:41.88
17 Dobes / Bakalar CZE 3 5.05 5.04 51.11 51.49 1:42.60
18 Variola / Atchori Essoh ITA 15 5.08 5.14 51.53 51.59 1:43.12