Francesco Friedrich of Germany wins 16th world bobsled championship, taking 4-man in Lake Placid

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (AP) — Francesco Friedrich won every championship he could in bobsledding this season.

The German great is now a world champion for the 16th time, capping off his seventh four-man world title on Saturday at Mount Van Hoevenberg on the final day of the international bobsled season.

This is the sixth time — all in the last seven seasons — that Friedrich has swept the World Cup season titles in both two- and four-man, plus swept those races at either the Olympics or the world championships that season.

Friedrich finished three runs — one of the scheduled four heats was canceled on Friday because of worsening track conditions as the air temperature rose — over two days in 2 minutes, 44.52 seconds.

Johannes Lochner of Germany was second in 2:44.80 and Brad Hall of Britain was third in 2:45.00. The top American sled was driven by Frank Del Duca, who finished fourth in 2:45.64, while Kris Horn of the U.S. drove to a seventh-place finish.

“The biggest thing was just having friends and family here,” Del Duca said after wrapping up worlds on his home track in Lake Placid. “Coming up the outrun and high-fiving them and hearing them cheer was really special. It was a great time.”

Friedrich capped another year when he was the best bobsledder in the world, winning medals in all 17 of his major international races (15 World Cups, plus the two-man and four-man events in Lake Placid). He won 10 golds, also best in the world this year, with six silvers and one bronze.

Lochner finished his year with 16 medals — six gold, seven silver and three bronze.

Laura Nolte is the world champion in two-woman bobsledding for the first time, and she led Germany’s second consecutive sweep of the world championship medals in that event.

Nolte — a two-time world monobob champion, plus an Olympic gold medalist — and Deborah Levi finished four runs over two days in 3:46.00. Kim Kalicki and Leonie Fiebig were second in 3:46.52 and Lisa Buckwitz and Kira Lipperheide were third in 3:47.46.

The U.S. took the next three spots after the Germans. Kaillie Humphries — who had a huge fourth run — teamed with Emily Renna to finish fourth, just 0.06 seconds out of the medals. World monobob champion Kaysha Love and Jazmine Jones were fifth, followed by Elana Meyers Taylor and Lolo Jones in sixth.

It was Germany’s 11th time sweeping the medals in a world championship or Olympic bobsled race. It also happened last week in the two-man competition.

Germany claimed 73 of the 103 medals awarded in World Cup and world championship bobsledding this season, winning 28 of 34 races around the world. No other nation had more than nine bobsled medals; Britain and the U.S. both finished the season with that many.

Nolte had 14 medals on the season, two more than Buckwitz for the top spot in the world in 2024-25. Kalicki had seven and Love — the top American in the overall medal standings — finished the season with six.

The international sliding season is over, though some nations are still planning some internal events while weather allows. The first major news of the sliding offseason could be the announcement on whether Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, will play host to the Olympic sliding events or if they will take place in Lake Placid next February.

Cortina is scheduled to hold a homologation, or track testing, event later this month. It is unclear if that will happen as planned.

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The German teams that won the top three spots in the 2-woman bobsled competition celebrate during the bobsled world championships, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. From left to right, are: second-place winners Kim Kalicki and Leonie Fiebig, first-place winners Deborah Levi and Laura Nolte, and third-place winners Lisa Buckwitz and Kira Lipperheide. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Germany's Deborah Levi, center left, and Laura Nolte celebrate after winning the the 2-woman bobsled competition during the bobsled world championships, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Germany's Deborah Levi, center left, and Laura Nolte celebrate after winning the the 2-woman bobsled competition during the bobsled world championships, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Germany's Deborah Levi, second from right, and Laura Nolte , right, celebrate with fans after winning the the 2-woman bobsled competition during the bobsled world championships, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Germany's Lisa Buckwitz and Kira Lipperheide make a run in the third heat of the 2-woman bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Germany's Kim Kalicki and Leonie Fiebig make a run in the third heat of the 2-woman bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Germany's Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi make a run in the third heat of the 2-woman bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Britain's Adele Nicoll and Ashleigh Nelson make a run in the third heat of the 2-woman bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Canada's Bianca Ribi and Niamh Haughey make a run in the third heat of the 2-woman bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Elana Meyers Taylor and Lolo Jones, of the United States, make a run in the third heat of the 2-woman bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Canada's Cynthia Appiah and Skylar Sieben make a run in the third heat of the 2-woman bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Kaillie Armbruster Humphries and Emily Renna, of the United States, make a run in the third heat of the 2-woman bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Kaysha Love and Jasmine Jones, of the United States, make a run in the third heat of the 2-woman bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Germany's Francesco Friedrich, Matthias Sommer, Alexander Schuller and Felix Straub celebrate after finishing their run in the fourth heat of the 4-man bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Germany's Francesco Friedrich, Matthias Sommer, Alexander Schuller and Felix Straub celebrate after finishing their run in the fourth heat of the 4-man bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Germany's Francesco Friedrich, Matthias Sommer, Alexander Schuller and Felix Straub celebrate after finishing their run in the fourth heat of the 4-man bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses in three hospital systems in New York City went on strike Monday after negotiations through the weekend failed to yield breakthroughs in their contract disputes.

The strike was taking place at The Mount Sinai Hospital and two of its satellite campuses, with picket lines forming. The other affected hospitals are NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

About 15,000 nurses are involved in the strike, according to New York State Nurses Association.

The strike, which comes during a severe flu season, could potentially force the hospitals to transfer patients, cancel procedures or divert ambulances. It could also put a strain on city hospitals not involved in the contract dispute, as patients avoid the medical centers hit by the strike.

The hospitals involved have been hiring temporary nurses to try and fill the labor gap during the walkout, and said in a statement during negotiations that they would “do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions.” Montefiore posted a message assuring patients that appointments would be kept.

The work stoppage is occurring at multiple hospitals simultaneously, but each medical center is negotiating with the union independently. Several other hospitals across the city and in its suburbs reached deals in recent days to avert a possible strike.

The nurses’ demands vary by hospital, but the major issues include staffing levels and workplace safety. The union says hospitals have given nurses unmanageable workloads.

Nurses also want better security measures in the workplace, citing incidents like a an incident last week, when a man with a sharp object barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room and was then killed by police.

The union also wants limitations on hospitals’ use of artificial intelligence.

The nonprofit hospitals involved in the negotiations say they’ve been working to improve staffing levels, but say the union’s demands overall are too costly.

Nurses voted to authorize the strike last month.

Both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani had expressed concern about the possibility of the strike. As the strike deadline neared, Mamdani urged both sides to keep negotiating and reach a deal that “both honors our nurses and keeps our hospitals open.”

“Our nurses kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable,” Mamdani said.

The last major nursing strike in the city was only three years ago, in 2023. That work stoppage, at Mount Sinai and Montefiore, was short, lasting three days. It resulted in a deal raising pay 19% over three years at those hospitals.

It also led to promised staffing improvements, though the union and hospitals now disagree about how much progress has been made, or whether the hospitals are retreating from staffing guarantees.

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

FILE - A medical worker transports a patient at Mount Sinai Hospital, April 1, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)