Johannes Lochner, who had previously announced his retirement, claimed his second gold medal at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, leading Germany to another impressive bobsleigh victory. Lochner triumphed in the four-man event, finishing 0.57 seconds ahead of two-time defending champion Francesco Friedrich in the final sliding competition of the Games.
Despite Germany’s dominant performance, Switzerland secured the bronze medal, with Michael Vogt surpassing Germany’s Adam Ammour in the last run to secure third place. Ammour had to settle for fourth place in the event.
Lochner completed the four runs in three minutes and 37.57 seconds, with Friedrich clocking in at 3:38.14, Vogt at 3:38.64, and Ammour at 3:38.68.
Among the U.S. teams, Kris Horn led the way, finishing 11th with Caleb Furnell, Hunter Powell, and Carsten Vissering in his sled. Frank Del Duca finished 12th for the U.S. with Boone Niederhofer, Bryan Sosoo, and Josh Williamson in his sled.
In the bobsleigh events at the Winter Olympics, Germany clinched a total of 8 medals, the U.S. won 3, Switzerland claimed 1, while other countries failed to secure any medals.
The overall medal count in all three sliding sports, including skeleton and luge, was heavily in favor of Germany. The final tally showed Germany with 19 medals, Austria with 5, Italy and the U.S. with 4 each, and Britain, Switzerland, and Latvia with 2, 1, and 1 medal respectively. If Lochner, Friedrich, and Ammour were a combined nation, they would have tied for the top spot in the sliding sports medal standings, winning a total of five medals.
Laura Nolte, the two-woman Olympic champion, expressed joy at the performance, highlighting the entertaining nature of the competition.
Lochner’s achievement of sweeping both men’s bobsleigh events at the Olympics placed him in an elite group of pilots, including Andrel Ostler (1952), Eugenio Monti of Italy (1968), Meinhard Nehmer of East Germany (1976), Hoppe (1984), Andre Lange of Germany (2006), and Friedrich (2018 and 2022).