Francesco Friedrich Clinches 7th Straight Two-man World Bobsled Title; Sets New World Record

Germany’s Francesco Friedrich advanced his position as the greatest bobsledder in history and one of today’s dominant athletes, by winning an unprecedented 10th IBSF World Championship on Sunday.

Friedrich won the 7th consecutive two-man world title in Altenberg, Germany, becoming the first bobsledder to win ten gold medals in his career at the individual World Championships.

Teaming with brakeman Alexander Schüller, Friedrich registered the victory over fellow Germans Johannes Lochner and Eric Franke by 2.05 seconds. 

Friedrich-Schüller finished in 3 minutes, 39.78 seconds and took the top spot. Lochner and Franke finished in 3:41.83 seconds, while Hans Peter Hannighofer and Christian Roeder were third in 3:42.01 seconds to cap off a German medal sweep.

#BMWIBSF World Champs #Aberg21 in #Altenberg
2-man #Bobsleigh: World Champion Francesco Friedrich breaks 55-year-old record with tenth 2-man + 4-man title!
· Johannes Lochner wins , Hans Peter Hannighofer takes
https://t.co/S2rFBS5emw

https://t.co/TgUdfdf3Ew pic.twitter.com/eJtrki8wSJ

— IBSF (@IBSFsliding) February 7, 2021

Friedrich and Schüller were fastest in each of the four runs from Saturday to Sunday.

With this victory, the german luger Friedrich broke the draw with Italian legend Eugenio Monti, who also won 7 two-man world titles along with 2 four-man crowns.

Friedrich has won all world two-man titles since 2013, and now he has 10 world championships, including three victories in four-man events. He will be the favourite in the next weekend’s four-man event when the World Championships resumes, with men’s skeleton, women’s skeleton and women’s mono bob remaining on the schedule as well.