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Germany sweeps the board in Winterberg

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08/01/2014

World champion Maximilian Arndt was the driving force between a superb weekend for Germany at the bobsleigh World Cup event in Winterberg (GER). Arndt was part of the four-man team that won both of their races in style, beating a fellow German team piloted by Francesco Friedrich by 0.17 seconds on Saturday, January 4 – and repeating the trick, this time by 0.23 seconds, the following day.

The second victory completed a German clean sweep of the podium, with Thomas Florschuetz and his team claiming third place. Germany had only narrowly been denied another 1-2-3 on the first day, when Russia’s Alexander Zubkov pipped Florschuetz to third place.

A satisfied Arndt said: “It was great to win in such lovely weather and in front of such a brilliant audience. We know this track much better than the ones overseas, and so can react faster in any situation.”

Arndt sits at the top of the four-man FIBT World Cup rankings on 1,038 points, leading second-placed Zubkov by 116. The USA’s Steven Holcomb lies third on 918 points.

There was further success for Germany on Sunday when Sandra Kiriasis and Franziska Fritz edged to a dramatic victory over the USA’s Elana Meyers and Lolo Jones in the women’s two-man bob – winning by just 0.01 seconds the day after Kiriasis’ 39th birthday.