From the moment Johannes Lochner and his brakeman Georg Fleischhauer took their first run of the two-man bobsled competition on Monday, it was obvious what the final outcome would be. 

Lochner entered his third and final Olympic Games the No. 1-ranked sled in both bobsled disciplines. He lived up to his own standard on Tuesday when his sled won gold by an incredible margin of 1.34 seconds. It was a third Olympic medal but first-ever gold for the 35-year-old. 

RESULTS

Lochner hadn’t topped a training session by more than 0.19 seconds. But after Run 1, he was already up nearly half a second. That lead doubled to eight tenths after Run 2 and from there, it snowballed. 

It was a complete German sweep of the podium — taking silver was Francesco Friedrich and Alexander Schuller while Olympic debutants Adam Ammour and Alexander Schaller took bronze. 

And if that result seems familiar, it’s because Germany has now swept the two-man podium for the second consecutive Olympic Games. At Beijing 2022, it was Friedrich on top and Lochner in 2nd. 

The last nation to sweep the medals in an event at consecutive Winter Games was also Germany – in women’s singles luge in 2002 and 2006. 

The 35-year-old Friedrich, widely regarded as one of the greatest bobsledders of all time, added a fifth Olympic medal to go with his four golds. 

The United States’ Frank Del Duca and Joshua Williamson finished in 4th, 0.44 seconds off a medal position. It was far and away Del Duca’s best Olympic result after the Bethel, Maine native finished 13th in both disciplines at Beijing 2022. 

"I wish we did that fourth run four times, to be closer or in that medal spot," Del Duca told reporters. "It is very bittersweet because this is a good result, and a few years ago we would be backflipping in joy. 

"But I know that we've worked really hard, and we had the potential to medal," he continued. "And I know how much support we have. I really wanted to get that medal for our support system as much, if not more than, as for us."

Seeded 11th entering the Games, Romania’s Mihai Tentea drove his sled to an incredible 5th-place finish, eclipsing his best-ever finish of 16th in the event by a wide margin. 

The two-woman and the four-man events remain for bobsled at Milan Cortina. Del Duca is slated to pilot Team USA's sled when the four-man competition kicks off on Feb. 21 at 4 a.m. ET.