Germany's Johannes Lochner storms to a big early lead in Olympic four-man bobsled

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — No surprise: Germany's Johannes Lochner is off to a big early lead in the four-man bobsled race at the Milan Cortina Games.

And he's well on his way to ending his career with double Olympic gold.

Lochner and his team — Thorsten Margis, Jorn Wenzel and Georg Fleischhauer — finished their first run of the four-heat event Saturday morning in 53.91 seconds. That was 0.39 seconds faster than the time posted by four-time Olympic champion and fellow German Francesco Friedrich in the first heat.

Brad Hall of Britain is third after one run, 0.48 seconds off the pace. The second heat is later Saturday and the medal-deciding runs are Sunday — the final day of the Games.

For the U.S., Kris Horn — who couldn't compete in two-man at these Olympics because he didn't finish enough races in the World Cup season — finally got his Games underway and is tied for eighth after one run, just 0.21 seconds back of the bronze-medal spot.

Horn is sliding with Caleb Furnell, Hunter Powell and Carsten Vissering.

Frank Del Duca, an opening ceremony flag-bearer for the U.S. who started 27th in the 27-sled field — meaning he got some seriously chewed-up ice to deal with in his opening run — is 14th for the Americans. Del Duca has Boone Niederhofer, Bryan Sosoo and Josh Williamson in his sled.

Jamaica, always a fan favorite at the Olympics and these games are no exception, is 23rd after one heat. Only the top 20 sleds after three heats qualify for the final run on Sunday.

The second heat was delayed for about 20 minutes after Austrian pilot Jakob Mandlbauer lost control of his sled and crashed toward the bottom portion of the track. Mandlbauer was taken off the track on a stretcher and brought by ambulance to a nearby hospital for evaluation.

There was no immediate word on the severity of his injuries.

Lochner has taken nine competitive runs at the Cortina track since it opened last fall and finished first in each of them — sweeping the two- and four-man events at the World Cup opener in November, then winning all four heats of the Olympic two-man race and now starting with a big lead in four-man.

The margin of 0.39 seconds was the biggest after one run of the Olympic four-man race since 1952 and keeps Lochner — who is retiring after these games — in position to become just the second pilot to ever sweep all eight heats in men's Olympic bobsled competition.

Anderl Ostler pulled off that feat 74 years ago. Wolfgang Hoppe nearly did it in 1984, winning seven of eight heats and finishing 0.01 seconds back in the other.

Lochner is also trying to become the seventh pilot to sweep both men's bobsled events in an Olympics, joining Ostler (1952), Italy's Eugenio Monti (1968), then-East Germany's Meinhard Nehmer (1976), Hoppe (1984), Germany's Andre Lange (2006), and Friedrich (2018 and 2022).

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

United States' Kristopher Horn, left, Caleb Furnell, Hunter Powell and Carsten Vissering slide down the track during a four man bobsled run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

United States' Kristopher Horn, front, Caleb Furnell, Hunter Powell and Carsten Vissering start for a four man bobsled run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Germany's Francesco Friedrich, front, Matthias Sommer, Alexander Schuller and Felix Straub start for a four man bobsled run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Germany's Johannes Lochner, left, Thorsten Margis, Jorn Wenzel and Georg Fleischauer slide down the track during a four man bobsled run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

RAYAK, Lebanon (AP) — Israeli airstrikes on eastern Lebanon have killed eight members of the militant Hezbollah group, including several local officials, two officials with the group said Saturday.

The Lebanese Health Ministry put the death toll at 10, but did not distinguish between militants and civilians.

The Hezbollah officials told The Associated Press that the eight militants were killed in strikes near the village of Rayak in northeast Lebanon late Friday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media about such details.

An Associated Press team that visited the scene of the strike Saturday morning saw that the top floor of a three-story building was knocked out.

The Israeli military said Saturday that several members of Hezbollah’s missile unit, in three different command centers in the Baalbek area in Lebanon, were “eliminated.”

The Israeli army added that the Hezbollah members killed were identified “as operating to accelerate readiness and force build-up processes, while planning fire attacks toward Israel.”

One of the Hezbollah officials said that three of the dead were local commanders and identified them as Ali al-Moussawi, Mohammed al-Moussawi and Hussein Yaghi.

Yaghi was the son of prominent Hezbollah official and one of its founders, Mohammed Yaghi, who died in 2023. Mohammed Yaghi was also a close aide to late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in September 2024.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Saturday that Israeli strikes on eastern Lebanon killed 10 people and wounded 24, including three children.

Ali Abdullah, executive director of Rayak Hospital, told the AP that the strike occurred after sunset, adding that they have received 10 bodies and 21 wounded. He added that the dead included two non-Lebanese — a Syrian man and an Ethiopian woman. The wounded included five Syrians and three Ethiopians.

After the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel triggered war in Gaza, Hezbollah began firing rockets from Lebanon into Israel in support of Hamas and the Palestinians.

Israel responded with airstrikes and shelling. The low-level conflict escalated into full-scale war in September 2024, later reined in but not fully stopped by a U.S.-brokered ceasefire two months later.

Since then, Israel has accused Hezbollah of trying to rebuild and has carried out near-daily strikes in Lebanon that it says target Hezbollah militants and facilities. Hezbollah has claimed one strike against Israel since the ceasefire.

The death toll from Friday’s strikes was unusually high and comes at a moment of intensified tensions in the region as the United States has threatened to strike Iran — a backer of both Hezbollah and Hamas — if negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program fail to produce a deal.

Mroue reported from Beirut.

People inspect damaged cars near a building destroyed in an Israeli strike in the village of Temnine in eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

People collect the remains of their belongings from a building destroyed in an Israeli strike in the village of Bednayel in eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

People collect the remains of their belongings from a building destroyed in an Israeli strike in the village of Bednayel in eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Syrian Menisa Taha, who was wounded in an Israeli airstrike, lies in Rayak Hospital in eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

People gather near a building destroyed in an Israeli strike in the village of Bednayel in eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)