Germany wins four-man bobsleigh gold as Margis makes history at Milan-Cortina
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Germany's Johannes Lochner teamed up with Georg Fleischhauer, Thorsten Margis and Jorn Wenzel to win the four-man bobsleigh gold medal at the Milan-Cortina on Sunday.
The quartet clocked a combined time of three minutes and 37.57 seconds over four runs, finishing 0.57 seconds ahead of their compatriots, pilot Francesco Friedrich, alongside Matthias Sommer, Alexander Schueller and Felix Straub.
It marked Lochner and Fleischhauer's second gold medal at the Games following their triumph in the two-man event, while the title-winning team's push athlete Thorsten Margis claimed his fifth Olympic gold and became the most decorated bobsleigh athlete in Olympic history.
A double champion in both the two-man and four-man events at the PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Friedrich now has four Olympic gold medals to his name and added two silver medals at these Games.
Switzerland's Michael Vogt steered his team up to third place in the final run, edging out Germany's Adam Ammour by just 0.04 seconds and denying the latter a podium finish.
Two Chinese teams finished 16th and 18th, respectively. It was Sun Kaizhi's second Olympic appearance. After setting China's best-ever Olympic result in the event at Beijing 2022, he again placed 16th to match that national record.
"There are still some regrets, especially in the push start. Compared with the traditional powerhouses, we still have a lot of room for improvement," Sun said after the race. "As a young team in bobsleigh, we have always been chasing the leaders. We hope that in the new Olympic cycle we can stand on the podium again at international competitions and make Chinese bobsleigh more competitive on the world stage."
With all bobsleigh events concluded, Germany topped the discipline with three gold, four silver and one bronze medals, enhancing its status as a traditional powerhouse. American veteran Elana Meyers Taylor fulfilled her Olympic dream on her fifth appearance by winning the women's monobob title. ■