CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — The German bobsled team delivered an exhibition of absolute dominance at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, achieving a historic medal sweep in the two-man event that reinforced their unparalleled supremacy in the sport.
Johannes Lochner, competing in what he describes as his farewell season, captured his first Olympic gold medal alongside brakeman Georg Fleischhauer with a commanding performance. Their four-run cumulative time of 3 minutes, 39.70 seconds established the largest Olympic two-man victory margin in 46 years at 1.34 seconds.
“There’s nothing better than when a plan works out,” an emotional Lochner stated, embracing his teammate. “Speechless… feeling so much happiness. I cannot describe this.”
The German podium monopoly was completed by Francesco Friedrich—the two-time defending Olympic champion in both two-man and four-man events—with Alexander Schuller securing silver (3:41.04), while Adam Ammour and Alexander Schaller claimed bronze (3:41.52).
The United States team of Frank Del Duca and Josh Williamson narrowly missed disrupting the German trifecta, finishing fourth with a time of 3:41.96—matching the second-best American two-man Olympic result in seven decades.
This remarkable achievement marks only the second Olympic bobsled medal sweep in history, with Germany previously accomplishing the same feat in the two-man event at the Beijing Games four years ago.
The German dominance extends far beyond Olympic competition. During the current World Cup season and Olympics, German teams captured 23 of 24 available two-man medals. Over the complete four-year Olympic cycle, Germany has won 34 of 35 two-man races across World Cup, world championship, and Olympic competitions, collecting 85 of 105 possible medals.
Lochner now looks ahead to what he anticipates will be his final international competition—the four-man event this weekend, where he enters as the overwhelming favorite.