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Francesco Friedrich in twos, in Innsbruck at the end of December (archive image)
Photo: Expa, Johann Groder / dpa
After 22 victories in a row, bobsleigh dominator Francesco Friedrich suffered a bitter defeat on New Year's Day in Sigulda and settled for twelfth place.
At the start, of all places, the duo Friedrich / Alexander Schüller made two bad mistakes.
Since Johannes Lochner / Paul Krenz in sixth and Christoph Hafer / Issam Ammour in tenth were also far from the top positions, there were long faces in the German camp.
Not so with Rotislav Gaitjukewitsch.
With Mikhail Mordasow, the Russian achieved two very good runs and thus the first World Cup success of his career.
So far there have been two third places in his success history.
When Friedrich crossed the finish line after his second run, national coach René Spies clapped his hands over his head.
He has never known such faulty drives from his flagship driver.
Friedrich lost the competition right at the start, despite the best start times.
“We took the Starteck with us twice.
In the first run we thought that only Alex had run too far.
In the second attempt we went shorter, that didn't work either, ”reported Friedrich.
After that, the race on this track, where the start is particularly important, was over for him.
National coach warns with a view to the winter games in Beijing
Especially since Friedrich, probably trying to make the best of the situation, made a lot of unfamiliar driving errors.
"It's all a little better, that wasn't the impact," he says.
"Then that's the way it is, and you will be passed through."
Sunday will show whether this race was already a preliminary decision in terms of Olympic pushers.
Then Friedrich starts with Thorsten Margis, who also pushed him to win the Olympic gold four years ago.
Schüller and Margis fight a duel for the place behind Friedrich in two.
»You have to start and bobsleigh at absolutely top level to be at the front in this field.
It was a warning shot for us, ”said Spies, also referring to the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
ara / dpa
