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Tag: Bobsledding

  • Johannes Lochner wins Olympic 4-man bobsled gold over Francesco Friedrich

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    CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Johannes Lochner went out on top, and Germany capped another dazzling Olympic display with another dominant bobsled show at the Milan Cortina Games.

    Lochner — who announced his retirement months ago — capped his career with his second gold medal of these Olympics, winning the four-man event over two-time defending Olympic champion Francesco Friedrich by 0.57 seconds on Sunday in the final sliding event of these Games.

    But it wasn’t a sweep: Switzerland got the bronze, with Michael Vogt overtaking Germany’s Adam Ammour in the fourth and final run to secure that third-place spot. Ammour settled for fourth.

    Lochner’s four-run time was 3 minutes, 37.57 seconds. Friedrich finished in 3:38.14, Vogt in 3:38.64 and Ammour in 3:38.68.

    Kris Horn had the top U.S. sled, finishing 11th with Caleb Furnell, Hunter Powell and Carsten Vissering in his sled. Frank Del Duca was 12th for the U.S., with Boone Niederhofer, Bryan Sosoo and Josh Williamson in his sled.

    The final bobsled medal tally from bobsled at these Olympics: Germany 8, U.S. 3, Switzerland 1, everyone else in the world 0.

    And the total from all three sliding sports — adding skeleton and luge — was just as one-sided.

    Those final numbers: Germany 19, Austria 5, Italy 4, U.S. 4, Britain 2, Switzerland 1 and Latvia 1. If Lochner, Friedrich and Ammour were their own nation, they would have tied for the top spot in the sliding medal standings. They combined to win five themselves.

    “We are all putting down a show,” said two-woman Olympic champion Laura Nolte, who won two of Germany’s nine bobsled medals in Cortina. “And it’s fun.”

    Lochner became the seventh pilot to sweep both men’s bobsled events in an Olympics, joining Andrel Ostler (1952), Italy’s Eugenio Monti (1968), then-East Germany’s Meinhard Nehmer (1976), Hoppe (1984), Germany’s Andre Lange (2006), and Friedrich (2018 and 2022).

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    AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

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  • Speedskater, bobsledder picked as US flagbearers for Winter Olympics

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    Speedskater Erin Jackson already has made history, as the first Black woman to win an individual gold medal at a Winter Olympics. Bobsledder Frank Del Duca is a sergeant in the Army, hailing from a family with deep Italian roots.

    They might be the perfect pair to lead the U.S. into the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

    Jackson, 33, and Del Duca, 34, were selected by a group of their fellow Olympians as the U.S. flagbearers for Friday night’s opening ceremony of the Milan Cortina Games. Jackson will become the eighth U.S. speedskater to carry the flag into an Olympics, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said, while Del Duca will be the first bobsledder to carry the flag into an opening in 70 years.

    “Being chosen to represent the United States on the world stage is a tremendous honor,” Jackson said in a statement Tuesday from the USOPC. “It’s a moment that reflects far more than one individual — it represents my family, my teammates, my hometown, and everyone across the country who believes in the power of sport. The Olympics remind us of the power of sport to connect and inspire, and I’m proud to carry that forward on the Olympic stage.”

    It will be an unusual opening ceremony, given that these are the most spread-out Olympics ever. The main ceremony is in Milan; there will be other ceremonies and athlete parades in the Italian cities of Predazzo, Livigno and Cortina d’Ampezzo.

    And for Del Duca, the top U.S. bobsled pilot in both two- and four-man racing, an already-special Olympic opportunity in his family’s homeland just got even more significant. He said Tuesday that he was surprised by the flagbearer nod.

    “I grew up with a lot of Italian and Italian-American influence in my life,” Del Duca said in an interview with The Associated Press last month. “Three out of my four grandparents were Italian. My name is Frank Joseph Del Duca IV. It’s not the most Italian name, but it’s clearly Italian.

    “I grew up on the food. I grew up in that Italian American culture. So much of my life has been Italian American, which is not the same as Italian, but we’re very proud of our ancestry.”

    U.S. bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor was picked to carry the American flag at the 2022 Beijing Olympics but tested positive for COVID-19 — forcing the postponement of her flag-carrying chance until the closing ceremony of those games. She was replaced at the Beijing opening by speedskater Brittany Bowe, and this time, it’s Jackson’s turn to have that moment.

    Del Duca was fourth in both two- and four-man at last season’s world championships on his home track in Lake Placid, New York. He made his Olympic debut at Beijing four years ago, finishing 13th in both races.

    Now, he wears his country’s colors in the Olympics again. That means the world to any athlete. It’s especially significant to Del Duca as a member of the Army — and even more so, he insists, with these games in his family’s homeland.

    “It means a lot. It really does. It means a lot,” Del Duca said. “It would be cool anywhere, but the fact that it’s in Italy, I think our family is just that much more excited. My grandparents are no longer around, but they always rooted for Italy and the U.S. And they said the perfect day would be the Italians and the Americans tying for gold. So, yes, this is cool. It’s a cool opportunity.”

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    AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

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  • Flavor Flav gives bobsled and skeleton a try, joins team as hype man for Olympics

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    PARK CITY, Utah — At 66 years old, Flavor Flav went 67 mph. That was all it took to get him hooked on sliding.

    Meet the newest fan of the U.S. bobsled and skeleton program: a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, a founding member of Public Enemy, a reality show star and now, an aspiring slider. USA Bobsled and Skeleton announced Flav as its new official hype man Monday, not long after he spent a couple days around the team at the 2002 Olympic track in Utah.

    And he plans to be with the team at the Milan-Cortina Olympics in February.

    “The partnership is a blessing,” Flav said. “It’s cooler than Cool Runnings. It’s Coolest Runnings.”

    The 66-year-old Flav — his legal name is William Jonathan Drayton Jr. — spent time with the bobsled and skeleton teams this past week. He went down the Park City track in a bobsled, then also wanted to try out skeleton, the headfirst sliding sport where elite athletes can reach speeds exceeding 80 mph.

    Team officials wanted Flav to start from a low spot on the track, as is the case with all first-timers for safety reasons. Flav didn’t necessarily like that; he wanted to start from higher up, significantly raising the level of difficulty. Eventually, he got his chance and he hit 67 mph on his second run.

    For a regular person just trying the sport, that’s exceptional. No word on whether he used his catch phrase, ‘Yeah, boyeeeee.’

    “Oh my gosh, he’s one of the coolest, most adventurous men that I’ve ever met,” U.S. skeleton athlete Dan Barefoot told The Associated Press. “He was upset that he couldn’t go from higher up on the track. … I was kind of upset at how good he was. It’s a sport that takes a lot of skill, but he made it look straightforward.”

    Flav and sports often go hand-in-hand.

    He was a celebrity mayo-pourer — yes, there is such a job — at the Duke’s Mayo Bowl last year, helping to douse Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck with 5 gallons of celebratory condiment after the Golden Gophers won that game. He can be found performing during Super Bowl weeks. He was there to show support when Billie Jean King got her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He’s been a big supporter of Olympians in the past, including discus thrower Veronica Fraley.

    And at the Paris Olympics, Flav was the official hype man for the U.S. women’s water polo team.

    “We have all been so hyped to have him with us,” Barefoot said. “Put aside the fact that Flav is one of the greatest hype men of all time, the energy in the room … you had people who often aren’t talking to each other high-fiving and hugging because of the experience of being around him. There’s a lot of energy and a lot of confidence around us right now.”

    Many members of the team got Flav’s personal cell phone number, and some also got to join him at a Maroon 5 concert over the weekend. And when the Olympics are over, Flav plans to return to Park City to take part in a camp for sliders.

    “We are thrilled to welcome Flavor Flav as an official sponsor and hype man for USA Bobsled/Skeleton,” USA Bobsled and Skeleton CEO Aron McGuire said. “It’s clear he has a genuine passion for sports and an authentic love for the USA team. Flavor Flav embodies the same grit, dedication, and pride that define our athletes, and we’re excited to have him bring that excitement to our team and fans across the country.”

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    AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics

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