Friedrich back to his best with World Cup and European double

The German, by his standards, has had a quiet start to the season, but after a change of sled the problems of the past seem to be behind after a superb victory in Igls.

British interest came from Brad Hall and Nick Gleeson, finishing 20th after qualifying 17th for the second run, while Bruce Tasker and Joel Fearon were eliminated following the first run after recording the 21st quickest time.

A four-time two-man world champion, Friedrich and brakeman Thorsten Margis dominated both runs in Austria with their combined time of 1:43.71 enough to take the World Cup crown.

This race also served as the year's European Championships, with Clemens Bracher and Michael Kuonen finishing fourth overall, enough for European silver, while bronze went to Johannes Lochner and Joshua Bluhm of Germany.

But the remainder of the World Cup podium was dominated by Canadian pairings, with Justin Kripps and his brakeman Jesse Lumsden putting in two consistent runs to take the silver medal.

They needed to pull it out of the bag too, with they and compatriots Nick Poloniato and Lascelles Brown finishing in the same 51.98 seconds in their second run, just three hundredths of a second ahead with their combined time.