Francesco Friedrich

Francesco Friedrich, born on 2 May 1990, is a German bobsledder who has been active since 2006 and drives the sled as pilot. At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang he and his brakeman Thorsten Margis tied with Canada's Justin Kripps and Alexander Kopacz for gold in the two-man event, and he also won the four-man event outright, making him the fifth German pilot to win both golds at one Games after Andreas Ostler, Meinhard Nehmer, Wolfgang Hoppe and Andre Lange. At the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing he and Margis won both sleds again. He had earlier finished eighth in the two-man and tenth in the four-man at the 2014 Winter Olympics. He is the most successful athlete of the IBSF World Championships, with 13 titles won between 2017 and 2021 plus his first gold in the 2011 mixed team event.