Friedrich continues perfect start with 4-man bobsled gold in Utah

Germany’s Francesco Friedrich continued the perfect start to his bobsleigh season on Saturday, winning a four-race for his 70th career World Cup win.

Friedrich and the team of Thorsten Margis, Candy Bauer and Alexander Schuller finished both races in one minute, 33.62 seconds in Park City, Utah.

It was a German sweep of the four-man race, with Johannes Lochner (1:33.85) leading to second and Christoph Hafer taking third – just 0.01 seconds behind Lochner.

Friedrich — the Olympic champion and defending World Cup champion — is four of four this season after sweeping gold at two and four in Whistler, B.C., and now Park City on both first weekends of the season.

WATCH | The German Friedrich wins the 4th consecutive gold medal in the World Cup:

Canada’s four-man sled, driven by Taylor Austin, with Shaq Murray-Lawrence, Cyrus Gray and David Caxiero finished ninth after reaching the podium in bronze medal position in the season-opening race of the last week in Whistler. Caxiero made his season debut as a replacement for Davidson De Souza.

Kaillie Humphries earned her fourth medal – two in bobsleigh, two in monobob – of the season for the United States, teaming with Jasmine Jones to finish third in 1:37.69.

Bianca Ribi and Niamh Haughey finished fifth as Canada’s top sleds in 1:38.31, while fellow Canadians Cynthia Appiah and Leah Walkeden slipped to seventh with a time of 1:38.66.

The World Cup bobsleigh and skeleton circuit heads to Lake Placid, NY, in two weeks for the final stop before the holidays.