Olympics-Bobsleigh-Rivals face an uphill struggle against Germany's talent, funds and tech

By David Kirton

YANQING, China (Reuters) - Germany not only lead the pack halfway through the two-man bobsleigh in the Olympics on Monday - they also held second and fourth places, underlining the dominance of the country that is home to a quarter of world's the bobsleigh tracks.

Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis clocked 1:58.38 on two laps, 0.15 seconds ahead of team mates Johannes Lochner and Florian Bauer and 0.94 seconds ahead of a Russian Olympic Committee team.

Friedrich lifted his fourth overall World Cup title in a row last month and along with Margis, boast golds from the 2018 Pyeongchang Games in the two-man competition, where they tied with Canada's Justin Kripps and Cam Stones for first place, and the four man-event.

Germany have won six out of seven available golds so far in Beijing. But along with abundant talent, Germany can marshal resources that are the envy of their rivals.

When the Jamaican team were unable to compete in a European competition last month due to a member contracting COVID-19, the team had to do runs by a highway to stay prepared, brakeman Nimroy Turgott told Reuters.

Around the same time, Germany could utilize BMW's special bobsleigh simulation, complete with the Yanqing track, to help prepare, using materials found in rocket engines, the company boasted.

Bobsleigh attracts large audiences TV audiences in Germany. German sponsors are also the most generous among the winter sport federations, with Adidas, Allianz and Toyota Germany all behind Team Deutschland.

But their rivals must often fund themselves or find their own sponsors, not an easy feat when a two-person bobsleigh can cost upwards of 75,000 euros ($84,847.50).

Austrian pilot Benjamin Maier, who is in fifth place at the