British Bobsleigh Association
Lange and Kuske Capture Olympic 2-Man Gold
20 February 2006
Andre Lange and Kevin Kuske of Germany held off Canada's Pierre Lueders and Lascelles Brown to win the Olympic Two-Man Bobsleigh gold medal Saturday night.
www.fibt.com
The bronze went to Martin Annen and Beat Hefti of Switzerland in race that was slowed by heavy snow.
Lange and Kuske posted a .21 second victory with a four-heat time of 3:43.38. Lueders and Brown totaled 3:43.59, while Annen and Hefti, who also took the Olympic bronze four years ago, finished in 3:43.73.
Snow fell throughout the first heat and picked up during the break between runs. The jury authorized shades to be pulled in many turns when it became impossible to keep up with manually shoveling.
"The conditions were fair for everyone," said Lueders in the post-race press conference. "The jury made a decision to cover the entrances and exists of every turn and it helped make it a fair race."
It was the second Olympic gold medal for Lange, the 32-year pilot from Suhl. Lange, who has won nine World Championship medals in his career, including five golds, captured the 4-man Olympic competition four years ago in Park City, Utah. He is favored repeat as 4-man champion Friday and Saturday, February 24-25.
Lange and Kuske stretched their lead over Lueders from .06 to .16 seconds with a 56.01 third heat effort and added a 56.36 final run, pushing the final margin to .21 seconds. Kuske did not appear to be hindered pushing the sled, even though he injured his calf in the second heat Saturday night. Kuske slipped at the start and accidentally had his spiked right shoe scrape the skin of his left calf.
Lueders, 35, who won the 1998 Olympic two-man Champion in Nagano, captured the World Championships the last two years, but could not overcome a sub-par first heat effort at the Cesana track. The Canadians battled back in heat two with the fastest time, but could not catch the Germans in the remaining runs Sunday recording 56.11 and 56.41 heats.
Annen and Hefti prevailed in the battle for the bronze finishing with runs of 56.18 and 56.34. Completing the top six were Alexandre Zoubkov and Alexey Voevoda of Russia, 3:44.00; Matthias Hoepfner and Marc Kuehne of Germany, 3:44.25; and Jaqnis Minnins and Daumants Dreishkens of Latvia, 4:44.63.
Bobsleigh notes: Strong TV ratings were reported overnight in Great Britain (BBC) and Germany (ZDF). The German audience for bobsleigh was the best of any Winter Olympic sport Saturday night with 6.8 million viewers and a 23.3 share. Second place went to ski jumping with 6.54 million viewers. The BBC had nearly four million viewers for the first two heats of 2-man....The women bobsleighers take over the Cesana Pariol track Monday and Tuesday with Sandra Kiriasis of Germany favored to win the gold.
The ad hoc division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Sunday denied an appeal by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) against the FIBT over a decision to allow the Brazilian Olympic Committee to select a replacement for its four-man bob team. The AOC requested an order that the Brazilian four-men bobsleigh team be ineligible to compete in the Winter Olympics and that the Australian four-men bobsleigh team be replace them. A member of the Brazilian Team reportedly was removed from the Brazilian Olympic Roster last week after testing positive for a banned substance in early January.
The bronze went to Martin Annen and Beat Hefti of Switzerland in race that was slowed by heavy snow.
Lange and Kuske posted a .21 second victory with a four-heat time of 3:43.38. Lueders and Brown totaled 3:43.59, while Annen and Hefti, who also took the Olympic bronze four years ago, finished in 3:43.73.
Snow fell throughout the first heat and picked up during the break between runs. The jury authorized shades to be pulled in many turns when it became impossible to keep up with manually shoveling.
"The conditions were fair for everyone," said Lueders in the post-race press conference. "The jury made a decision to cover the entrances and exists of every turn and it helped make it a fair race."
It was the second Olympic gold medal for Lange, the 32-year pilot from Suhl. Lange, who has won nine World Championship medals in his career, including five golds, captured the 4-man Olympic competition four years ago in Park City, Utah. He is favored repeat as 4-man champion Friday and Saturday, February 24-25.
Lange and Kuske stretched their lead over Lueders from .06 to .16 seconds with a 56.01 third heat effort and added a 56.36 final run, pushing the final margin to .21 seconds. Kuske did not appear to be hindered pushing the sled, even though he injured his calf in the second heat Saturday night. Kuske slipped at the start and accidentally had his spiked right shoe scrape the skin of his left calf.
Lueders, 35, who won the 1998 Olympic two-man Champion in Nagano, captured the World Championships the last two years, but could not overcome a sub-par first heat effort at the Cesana track. The Canadians battled back in heat two with the fastest time, but could not catch the Germans in the remaining runs Sunday recording 56.11 and 56.41 heats.
Annen and Hefti prevailed in the battle for the bronze finishing with runs of 56.18 and 56.34. Completing the top six were Alexandre Zoubkov and Alexey Voevoda of Russia, 3:44.00; Matthias Hoepfner and Marc Kuehne of Germany, 3:44.25; and Jaqnis Minnins and Daumants Dreishkens of Latvia, 4:44.63.
Bobsleigh notes: Strong TV ratings were reported overnight in Great Britain (BBC) and Germany (ZDF). The German audience for bobsleigh was the best of any Winter Olympic sport Saturday night with 6.8 million viewers and a 23.3 share. Second place went to ski jumping with 6.54 million viewers. The BBC had nearly four million viewers for the first two heats of 2-man....The women bobsleighers take over the Cesana Pariol track Monday and Tuesday with Sandra Kiriasis of Germany favored to win the gold.
The ad hoc division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Sunday denied an appeal by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) against the FIBT over a decision to allow the Brazilian Olympic Committee to select a replacement for its four-man bob team. The AOC requested an order that the Brazilian four-men bobsleigh team be ineligible to compete in the Winter Olympics and that the Australian four-men bobsleigh team be replace them. A member of the Brazilian Team reportedly was removed from the Brazilian Olympic Roster last week after testing positive for a banned substance in early January.