Friedrich wins 9th 2-man world bobsleigh title, leading another German sweep

The greatest ever just keeps getting better.

Francesco Friedrich is a world champion again, winning the two-man race at Mount Van Hoevenberg on Sunday in a down-to-the-wire finish — holding off German teammate Johannes Lochner by the razor-slim margin of 0.03 seconds over four runs encompassing about four miles of ice.

"It was a tough battle," Friedrich said. "We said it would be."

It's the ninth two-man world championship of Friedrich's career and extended his record total to 15 world titles overall, when adding in his six crowns in four-man. He'll look to add another four-man title when worlds conclude in Lake Placid next week.

That total doesn't even take into account his four Olympic gold medals — two-man and four-man sweeps at the 2018 and 2022 Games. When it comes to the biggest races, nobody has won more than Friedrich. Not even close. And for this title, he had to make up some ground in the final turns.

"Having the motivation to win every race is no problem for me," Friedrich said.

WATCH | Friedrich wins 9th 2-man world title in dramatic fashion:

Francesco Friedrich wins 9th 2-man world title in dramatic fashion

Friedrich and Alexander Schuller finished their four runs over two days in three minutes, 39.32 seconds. Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer finished in 3:39.35, and Adam Ammour and Benedikt Hertel finished the German medal sweep in 3:40.15.

It's the fourth time in the last five years that Germany has swept the medals in the season's biggest two-man race, this one being added to the sweeps at worlds in 2021, the 2022 Beijing Olympics and last year's world championships.

Watch live coverage of the bobsleigh world championships on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. A live streaming schedule is available here.

Frank