Francesco Friedrich dominating bobsleigh - going for third Olympic title in Beijing 2022
Germany's 13-time world champion "motivated by the pressure" as he stands on the brink of another bobsleigh gold at the Olympic Winter Games.
Francesco Friedrich is on course for his third Winter Olympics title at the halfway stage of the 2-man bobsleigh at Beijing 2022.
Bobsled pilot Friedrich and brakeman Thorsten Margis finished their two runs on Monday 14 February in 1:58.38, a lead of 0.15secs at the head of the field as they look to retain the gold medal they claimed at PyeongChang 2018.
In second was fellow German pair Johannes Lochner - fifth four years ago - and Florian Bauer, who is making his Olympic Winter Games debut in China.
Friedrich has lost only two 2-man races in the past two seasons although he does not feel the burden of expectation that comes with such dominance.
He told Olympics.com: “That’s our work and we know that there is pressure and use that pressure to motivate us.
"We can make use of it and use it to be good. We are happy with the day but the second run must be better tomorrow - we will give all we can do.”
Germany go into the second day with three of the top four and a historic clean sweep by one country beckoning.
Heat 3 gets under way on Tuesday 15 February (20:15) followed by heat 4 (21:50) at Yanqing National Sliding Centre.
Friedrich motivated by the pressure
Friedrich made his Olympic Winter Games debut at Sochi 2014 where he finished sixth in the 2-man bobsled and eighth in the 4-man.
Since then he has won 13 world titles and two gold medals in PyeongChang where Friedrich and Margis shared top spot with Justin Kripps and Alexander Kopacz of Team Canada.
Only once before had two teams tied for gold when Canadian duo Pierre Lueders and David MacEachern were joint 2-man champions with Italians Guenther Huber and Antonio Tartaglia at Nagano 98.
Before the competition started, Kripps admitted Friedrich was a daunting opponent but told thestar.com: “The Olympics is the great equaliser, I like to say."
Despite Kripps' self-belief and experience, he lies 10th at halfway, 1.31secs behind Friedrich and 0.37secs outside the podium.
He told Olympics.com: "You make a mistake at the wrong place and you lose a lot of time. This field is super, super strong. There's going to be people who have pretty perfect runs and so if you don't, you're not going to be up there with them.
"I know that, I have been around for a while and you know, I can't expect to be sitting in a podium position after those rounds today. So just have to try to do better tomorrow.
"I would like to think that we can (still claw it back). Going to stay positive, optimistic and give it our best shot, that’s for sure.”
Family ties
Born in Pirna, Germany, in May 1990, Friedrich took up bobsleigh when he was 16, two years after his older brother David started following a tryout at a festival in their hometown.
David was involved in a crash during a training run in Altenberg, Germany, and was in a medically-induced coma for three weeks.
He continued in the sport however and won silver at the 2011 Junior World Championships in Francesco's sled.
Sister Lucienne also competed as brakewoman at international level from 2009 to 2012.
Honour of leading out Team Germany
Friedrich was selected as Team Germany flagbearer at the Opening Ceremony in Beijing alongside speed skating star Claudia Pechstein.
Five-time Olympic champion Pechstein told Olympics.com: "It means more than all the medals together, especially today that I can carry the flag alongside Francesco Friedrich a legend in bobsleigh."
