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Altenberg (dpa) - Francesco Friedrich just coolly raised his index finger at the finish and let his pusher Alexander Schüller lift him up.
The perfectionist in the ice channel was not deterred by the snow chaos the day before or by the world's elite at the home World Cup in Altenberg.
With four best start and run times as well as an equalized start record of 5.11 seconds, the double Olympic champion from BSC Sachsen Oberbärenburg raced to his seventh two-man bobsleigh victory and at the same time his tenth World Championship title.
No bobsleigh pilot in the 91-year history of the World Cup has achieved this before him.
"We have had many top pilots in Germany, but this overall package with his meticulousness and perfection is unique", praised head coach René Spies.
With Schüller, Friedrich drove an unbelievable lead of 2.05 seconds over second placed Johannes Lochner despite the adverse conditions.
"It's been an amazing year so far, now there is the foursome," said Friedrich and already has the Olympics in his sights: "Everything is already geared towards Beijing, the training plans, the material, simply everything."
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The Berchtesgadener Lochner was "satisfied with the result, but not with the performance".
The day before he was severely judged: "Even a blind man saw that the journeys were a mess."
World Cup debutant Hans-Peter Hannighofer raced from fifth to third with Christian Röder and completed the triple success.
Christoph Hafer / Christian Hammers came in seventh.
For the 30-year-old Friedrich, the superlatives have already been exhausted: from “talent of the century” (exercise bike Gerd Leopold), “Eddy Merckx of bobsleigh” (head coach René Spies) to “Lewis Hamilton of winter sports” (commentator John Morgan "Cool Runnings").
But Friedrich is more oriented towards Formula 1 idol Michael Schumacher.
“I saw the same mentality with Schumi as with myself,” he revealed in the end and emphasized with regard to the meticulousness of turning every adjustment screw: “I'm like Schumi.
If you don't have this mentality, you're not a winner. "
Now Friedrich is only missing the Olympic record.
André Lange holds this position as a pilot with four Olympic victories and one silver medal.
“I would need a gold medal in 2026,” said Friedrich, if the double in Beijing were to succeed.
He doesn't want to make the decision until after the 2023 World Cup in St. Moritz.
That was when his World Cup winning streak began in 2013 as the youngest world champion in bobsleigh history.
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This presidency almost got the 23-year-old Kim Kalicki, who again took world silver medal behind US pilot Kaillie Humphries.
Together with the one year younger junior world champion Laura Nolte, who won her first women's medal with bronze, the talented duo positioned themselves for the 2022 Olympics with a show of strength.
«I am completely satisfied, we showed what we can do.
Kaillie is just too strong here, ”said Kalicki, who after four runs with Ann-Christin Strack was only 0.35 seconds behind the victorious Humphries.
Nolte, who fell in the same place at the World Cup last year, fell on her knees for joy and shed tears of joy.
“When you think of last year, that kept me busy for a long time.
So I'm glad it worked, ”said Nolte.
In contrast, the established ones failed: Stephanie Schneider drove to four on the second day;
Olympic champion Mariama Jamanka was only sixth.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210207-99-339905 / 5