by Oliver Trust
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- For years, Johannes Lochner measured his career in fractions of a second - and in the shadow of Francesco Friedrich. On Wednesday night, that pursuit finally found its golden finish at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games.
The long-running duel with Friedrich pushed him to new limits, Lochner said after winning his first Olympic gold medal as Germany swept the podium in the two-man bobsled.
"If he hadn't been around, I wouldn't have lasted that long," the 35-year-old said.
Lochner said years of chasing his internal rival shaped his career and sharpened his motivation after a series of near misses.
"There have been so many silvers for my team and me," he said. "This time, it had an unbelievably happy ending."
Lochner plans to end his 15-year career after the four-man event on Thursday and Friday.
His pursuit of Friedrich became an obsession after the 2022 Beijing Games, when he memorably asked, "How does he always do that?" Often, he said, the margins were "only hundredths of a second."
Determined to change that, Lochner brought in Georg Fleischhauer, a former 400-meter runner, to improve the start. "We concluded a better start can make us catch up," he said.
The change paid off. Lochner and Fleischhauer won by 1.34 seconds, the largest margin in Olympic two-man bobsled since 1980.
"A good start gives you confidence and allows small mistakes later on the track," Lochner said. He called his decision to continue after the disappointment of 2022 "a good one."
"There is nothing better than a plan that works so well," he added as celebrations began at the Germany House in Cortina, where guests included former Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp.
Despite German media hailing the sweep with headlines such as "We Are Bob," the medalists left early to prepare for the four-man competition. That included silver medalists Friedrich and Alexander Schueller, and bronze medalists Adam Ammour and Alexander Schaller.
Lochner said the victory fulfilled a "long-desired dream" and left him almost speechless, especially given the historic winning margin.
Four-time Olympic champion Friedrich called the result "well deserved," after a season he largely dominated.
Lochner said the extra effort came with "only one last shot left for us." While focused on one more attempt at gold in the four-man event, he is already looking ahead to retirement.
"I'm full of anticipation for the time with my family," he said. "They have accepted my obsession for so long."
