From Lillehammer, NOR
(November 13, 2021) – Russia’s Alexey Stulnev won gold in the first four-man bobsled European Cup race of the 2021/2022 season.
Stulnev opened up a .15 second advantage over Switzerland’s Michael Kuonen, with Kuonen’s teammate Cedric Follador just .02 behind. On the second run Stulnev was just second quickest, but it was enough to hold off a myriad of Swiss sleds to win gold.
The win was Stulnev’s first gold medal of his career stretching back to 2008. It came in his 188th race, after many of his previous finishes had been disqualified due to having either Alexey Voyevoda or Maxim Belugin as part of his bobsled team. Both men were stripped of all results as a part of the RUSADA Olympic doping scandal.
Switzerland had a strong showing in Lillehammer in the four-man competition. Timo Rohner finished second, with Michael Kuonen only .02 back in the bronze medal position. Follador and Yann Moulinier finished fourth and fifth to round out the Swiss effort.
David Baechler finished sixth for France.
Liechtenstein’s Martin Kranz finished a career-best seventh.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Stulnev / Zakhryapin / Zharovtsev / Antukh | RUS | 2 | 5.04 | 5.04 | 51.02 | 51.55 | 1:42.57 |
| 2 | Rohner / Waschle / Rolli / Giumma | SUI | 6 | 5.05 | 5.04 | 51.40 | 51.48 | 1:42.88 |
| 3 | Kuonen / Ferrari / Badraun / Tanner | SUI | 4 | 5.07 | 5.08 | 51.17 | 51.73 | 1:42.90 |
| 4 | Follador / Mariani / Hufschmid / Fehse | SUI | 1 | 5.11 | 5.17 | 51.19 | 51.75 | 1:42.94 |
| 5 | Moulinier / Hersperger / Juillard / Matthys | SUI | 7 | 5.13 | 5.14 | 51.67 | 51.81 | 1:43.48 |
| 6 | Baechler / Flaven / Alais / Adoui | FRA | 11 | 5.32 | 5.31 | 52.65 | 52.40 | 1:45.05 |
| 7 | Kranz / Beck / Uz / Lenherr | LIE | 8 | 5.47 | 5.46 | 52.53 | 52.75 | 1:45.28 |
| 8 | Cipulis / Bebriss / Kirejevs / Zarins | LAT | 9 | 5.38 | 5.29 | 52.59 | 53.06 | 1:45.65 |
| 9 | Den Ouden / Pals / Van Kuppeveld / de Jong | NED | 12 | 5.82 | 5.80 | 53.51 | 53.47 | 1:46.98 |
| 10 | D. Kaufmanis / Kleinbergs / L. Kaufmanis / Nemme | LAT | 10 | 4.99 | 5.27 | 57.95 | 57.75 | 1:55.70 |
| DNS | Oelsner / Fleischhauer / Jagusch / Heber | GER | 3 | 5.08 | 56.86 | DNS | ||
| DNS | Shinohara / Hamano / Kaneko / Murakami | JPN | 5 | 5.13 | 59.42 | DNS |
