Germany sweeps another 2-man World Cup race. Kris Horn and Frank Del Duca pace the American hopes

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This article was published 03/01/2026 (274 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINTERBERG, Germany (AP) — Germany’s dominance of the World Cup two-man bobsled season continued Saturday, with the host nation sweeping the medals again.

Johannes Lochner was first, Adam Ammour was second and Francesco Friedrich was third. It was the fifth two-man race of the season and the fifth German sweep.

The only variable is the order; Lochner has now won four of those races, Friedrich won the other and Ammour got silver for the first time on Saturday after four bronzes to start the season.

American Kris Horn drove to a fourth-place finish, the best two-man result of his World Cup career as a pilot. And Frank Del Duca of the U.S. was fifth; he’s been sixth or better in all five two-man events on the World Cup schedule to this point.

“It’s great to start the second half of the season with good results,” USA Bobsled coach Chris Fogt said. “It shows how hard our athletes continued to work and train over the holidays.”

Women’s monobob

Earlier Saturday in Winterberg, Laura Nolte of Germany got her second women’s monobob World Cup win of the season and her fifth medal in five tries.

Nolte prevailed, with Cynthia Appiah of Canada — matching her best career monobob showing — finishing second and Lisa Buckwitz of Germany placing third.

The U.S. women had a strong day, with Kaillie Humphries Armbruster leading the way with a fifth-place finish. Elana Meyers Taylor tied with Melissa Lotholz of Canada for sixth and reigning world champion Kaysha Love placed eighth.

All three U.S. sleds finished within 0.08 seconds of one another.

Luge

Summer Britcher and Emily Fischnaller of the U.S. are in contending positions heading into Sunday’s second run of this weekend’s World Cup women’s singles race at Sigulda, Latvia.

Julia Taubitz of Germany is the leader after one run, followed by Lisa Schulte of Austria and then Britcher in third — those three sleds separated by a mere 0.005 seconds. Fischnaller is fourth at the halfway point, 0.027 seconds off the lead.

In the men’s race, which also will conclude Sunday, Felix Loch of Germany is the leader, with Austrian teammates Nico Gleirscher and Jonas Mueller holding the second and third spots. Jonny Gustafson was the top American on Saturday, placing 16th in his first run.

The U.S. had two sleds in the top six of a women’s doubles luge race. Selina Egle and Lara Kipp won, with Dajana Eitberger and Magdalena Matschina of Germany in second, then Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer of Italy in third.

Marta Robezniece and Kitija Bogdanova of Latvia were fourth, followed by the U.S. sleds; Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby were fifth, followed by Maya Chan and Sophia Gordon in sixth.

In the men’s doubles race, Eduards Sevics-Mikelsevics and Lukass Krasts of Latvia defended home ice and got their first World Cup victory. Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt of Germany were second, and Martins Bots and Roberts Plume of Latvia were third.

Marcus Mueller and Ansel Haugsjaa were ninth for the U.S., one spot ahead of Zach DiGregorio and Sean Hollander.

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Bobsled: Two-woman and four-man World Cup races in Winterberg on Sunday.

Skeleton: Men’s World Cup race at St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Wednesday.

Luge: Conclusion of women’s and men’s singles World Cup races at Sigulda on Sunday, followed by a team relay.

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