German Francesco Friedrich won a record-extending 16th men’s bobsled world title, while Laura Nolte led a German medals sweep of the two-woman event to end the World Championships in Lake Placid, New York.
Friedrich drove to a seventh consecutive title in the four-man event, defeating rival countryman Johannes Lochner’s sled by 28 hundredths combining times from three runs.
A British sled driven by Brad Hall took bronze, 64 hundredths ahead of American Frank Del Duca’s sled.
Del Duca drove to fourth-place finishes in both the two- and four-man events in Lake Placid. The U.S. last won a world medal in a men’s bobsled event in 2013.
Worlds are usually four runs, but one of Friday’s first two runs was canceled after it was held because a section of a curve was missing ice, causing Lochner’s sled to run over concrete. Lochner was initially granted a re-run, but due to rising temperatures and the time required for proper preparation, a jury concluded that track conditions would not have been fair for Lochner. So the entire run was canceled instead.
Friedrich swept the two- and four-man events at worlds for the sixth time in the last seven editions. He also took gold in both events at the last two Olympics. No other driver has won more than nine world titles.
Friedrich, 34, said in 2022 that he would make the 2026 Milan Cortina Games the last competition of his career. Then he said last weekend that he’ll wait to make a final decision on retirement.
In 2026, he can break the record for most Olympic bobsled gold medals (four) that he currently shares with retired countrymen Andre Lange and Kevin Kuske, plus Thorsten Margis.
Margis was in Friedrich’s sleds at the last two Olympics, then switched to Lochner’s team last fall (though he didn’t compete this season).
Later Saturday, the 2022 Olympic champion Nolte added her first two-woman world title to her monobob crowns from 2023 and 2024.
Nolte and Deborah Levi prevailed by 52 hundredths over Kim Kalicki and Leonie Fiebig and by 1.46 seconds over Lisa Buckwitz and Kira Lipperheide. The same three German drivers swept the medals last year, with Buckwitz taking gold.
American sleds finished fourth (Kaillie Humphries and Emily Renna), fifth (Kaysha Love and Jasmine Jones) and sixth (Elana Meyers Taylor and Lolo Jones).
Humphries, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, returned to competition this season after having son Aulden on June 14.
Love, who switched from push athlete to driver after the 2022 Olympics, was the lone non-German bobsledder to take gold at these worlds, winning last weekend’s monobob.
Meyers Taylor, a five-time Olympic medalist, is in her second season back since having her second son, Noah, in November 2022.
NBC Sports’ Dan Meyer contributed to this report.
