Winter Olympics 2022 - Germany in first and second place after first two four-man bobsleigh heats, Brad Hall in sixth

ByBen Southby

Updated 19/02/2022 at 09:08 GMT

Brad Hall’s Great Britain bobsleigh team will be sixth overnight after the opening heats of the four-man event on Saturday morning, and go into the final day of Beijing 2022 with the hopes of landing a medal. Francesco Friedrich’s German sled is leading the pack, closely followed by compatriot Johannes Lochner’s team.

Germany are in pole position to secure a medal in the four-man bobsleigh, with two teams in the top three places after the opening heats.

Pilot Brad Hall led Great Britain to a sixth-place finish in the first heat. They were joint-fifth with Germany 3 - led by Christoph Hafer - after the first heat, coming over the line with a time of 58.60, just 0.06 seconds off Rostislav Gaitiukevich’s Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) 1 in fourth place, and 0.47 seconds off Johannes Lochner’s leaders Germany 2.

The Germans managed a 58.13 track record to top the standings, with Germany 1 only 0.16 seconds off the pace following a start record.

Beijing 2022

'We had to risk it all and we did' - Humphries and Love after Beijing efforts

00:02:31

|

20/02/2022 at 10:03

Team GB registered a slightly slower time of 59.09 in the second run, and will spend the night in sixth place.

Lochner’s German team failed to capitalise on their opening effort and were 0.03 seconds slower than compatriot pilot Francesco Friedrich’s team, with the latter taking the lead into the final day of the Games.

Canada 1 secured a top-three finish - led by Justin Kripps - 0.35 seconds behind Lochner’s German sled in second.

‘Swinging with the big names’ – Hall's GB team in bobsleigh contention after heats

• Medal table
• Schedule and results
• Team GB

Hafer’s Germany 3 and Oskars Kibermanis’ Lativian’s were sandwiched in between Germany 2 and GB in fourth and fifth place respectively.

They’re still in contention for a medal, along with GB and the two ROC teams in seventh and eighth place.

- - -

The Olympic Games will return with Paris 2024, live on Eurosport and discovery+

Beijing 2022

‘The greatest bobsleigher of all time!’ – Friedrich does the double-double again

00:01:23

|

20/02/2022 at 09:01

Beijing 2022

‘A fantastic Games!’ – Hall’s Team GB sled lays down a marker in final run

00:01:56

|

20/02/2022 at 09:01

Beijing 2022

‘I’ve led from the front’ - British history-maker Douglas ends elite sporting career

20/02/2022 at 09:00