Germany's Lochner goes into retirement with Olympic 4-man bobsled gold win over Friedrich

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Johannes Lochner went out on top, and Germany capped another dazzling Olympic display with another dominant bobsled show at the Milan Cortina Games.

Lochner — who announced his retirement months ago — capped his career with his second gold medal of these Olympics, winning the four-man event over two-time defending Olympic champion Francesco Friedrich by 0.57 seconds on Sunday in the final sliding event of these Games.

“It’s just such a dream. … It's indescribable,” Lochner said. “A moment for eternity. A perfect finish, the most perfect finish ever.”

But it wasn't a German sweep: Switzerland got the bronze, with Michael Vogt overtaking Germany's Adam Ammour in the fourth and final run to secure that third-place spot. Ammour settled for fourth.

Lochner's four-run time was 3 minutes, 37.57 seconds. Friedrich — Germany's all-time leader in just about every category imaginable — finished in 3:38.14, Vogt in 3:38.64 and Ammour in 3:38.68.

“A year and a half ago, Hansi asked me to come in his sled and we made a plan,” said pusher Thorsten Margis, who won four Olympic golds with Friedrich and now has a fifth with Lochner. “It’s quite cool if such a plan works out, and it’s pretty amazing to beat the most successful bobsleigh pilot in the world.”

Lochner has made his future plans known. Friedrich isn't saying if he's retiring — yet.

“Normally I have to get one more gold," Friedrich said. "So, we will see.”

Kris Horn had the top U.S. sled, finishing 11th with Caleb Furnell, Hunter Powell and Carsten Vissering in his sled. Frank Del Duca was 12th for the U.S., with Boone Niederhofer, Bryan Sosoo and Josh Williamson in his sled.

“I’m trying to find the words to explain it,” Del Duca said. “We are medal contenders, so to not have a medal hurts. But to be able to walk away from the competition, knowing that we gave maximum effort and maximum preparation, and then be able to see our family in the stands and feel the love from them, feel the support from each other … as hard as it is to walk away empty-handed, we have very full hearts with the support that we have.”

The final bobsled medal tally from bobsled at these Olympics: Germany 8, U.S. 3, Switzerland 1, everyone else in the world 0.

And the total from all three sliding sports — adding skeleton and luge — was just as one-sided.

Those final numbers: Germany 19, Austria 5, Italy 4, U.S. 4, Britain 2, Switzerland 1 and Latvia 1. If Lochner, Friedrich and Ammour were their own nation, they would have tied for the top spot in the sliding medal standings. They combined to win five themselves.

“We are all putting down a show,” said two-woman Olympic champion Laura Nolte, who won two of Germany's nine bobsled medals in Cortina. “And it's fun.”

Lochner became the seventh pilot to sweep both men’s bobsled events in an Olympics, joining Anderl Ostler (1952), Eugenio Monti (1968), Meinhard Nehmer (1976), Wolfgang Hoppe (1984), Andre Lange (2006), and Friedrich (2018 and 2022).

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

Switzerland's Michael Vogt, front Andreas Haas, Amadou David Ndiaye and Mario Aeberhard arrive at the finish during a four man bobsled run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Germany's gold medalists Johannes Lochner, left, and Germany's silver medalist Francesco Friedrich, right, celebrate at the finish after the four man bobsled competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Germany's gold medalists Johannes Lochner, front, Thorsten Margis, Jorn Wenzel and Georg Fleischauer arrive at the finish during a four man bobsled run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Germany's gold medalists Johannes Lochner, Thorsten Margis, Jorn Wenzel and Georg Fleischauer pose with their medals after the four man bobsled competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026.(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

United States' Kristopher Horn, Caleb Furnell, Hunter Powell and Carsten Vissering arrive at the finish during a four man bobsled run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Germany's Francesco Friedrich, left, Matthias Sommer, Alexander Schuller and Felix Straub slide down the track during a four man bobsled run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Germany's Johannes Lochner, front, Thorsten Margis, Jorn Wenzel and Georg Fleischauer arrive at the finish during a four man bobsled run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

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, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka (AP) — Phil Salt and Will Jacks provided England a perfect start in the Super Eights as co-host Sri Lanka crashed to a 51-run defeat on Sunday.

Salt anchored England to 146-9 with a resolute 62 off 40 balls and Jacks provided impetus to the total by smashing four boundaries in his 21-run knock in the death overs.

Sri Lanka crumbled to 95 all out as offspinner Jacks picked up three wickets inside the power play and earned England its 12th consecutive win in a T20 against the hosts.

Jofra Archer (2-20) struck with a vital blow in his second over when Pathum Nissanka, who scored a century against Australia at the same venue during a group game, flicked a 150 kph delivery straight to deep mid-wicket.

With spinners getting a grip on a slow wicket, Sri Lanka batters struggled against Jacks’ fuller deliveries and slipped to 34-5 inside the first six overs. Kusal Mendis offered a tame return catch to Jacks and Pavan Rathanayake got dismissed off the first delivery when Jacks got a leading edge.

Captain Dasun Shanaka top-scored with 30 but fell to a brilliant relay catch when Jacks caught the ball above his head while running back and tossed the ball back to Tom Banton to complete the catch before Jacks went over the ropes.

The two other England spinners, Liam Dawson (2-27) and Adil Rashid (2-13), also prospered in ideal bowling conditions. Fast bowler Jamie Overton (1-13) also managed to get amongst the wickets.

Earlier, England's top-order crashed against spinner Dunith Wellalage (3-26) as Jos Buttler’s (7) disappointing tournament continued with his third successive single-digit score. Buttler fell to a poor reverse flick against Wellalage after his bat got tangled between his legs and he was struck on the pads plumb in front of the wickets.

Off-spinner Maheesh Theekshana (2-21) also kept the batters under pressure in the middle overs as England kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Salt completed his half-century off 36 balls before he heaved Wellalage to long-off in the 15th over, but Jacks' cameo in the death overs and Overton’s straight six in the last over gave England enough runs to defend.

Later Sunday, in a repeat of the 2024 T20 World Cup final, South Africa opted to bat after winning the toss against co-hosts and defending champions India in their Super 8 Group 1 clash.

Group A toppers India are unchanged, while the Proteas – Group D winners – have made four changes. Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen are back after resting against the UAE.

Line-ups:

India: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy

South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock, Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

England's Jofra Archer, center without cap, celebrates with teammates the wicket of Sri Lanka's Pathum Nissanka during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Sri Lanka and England in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

England's Adil Rashid, left, and Jamie Overton run between the wickets during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Sri Lanka and England in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

England's Phil Salt plays a shot during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Sri Lanka and England in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

England's Will Jacks, right, celebrates with teammates the wicket of Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Sri Lanka and England in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lanka's captain Dasun Shanaka gives thumbs up to a fan during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

England's captain Harry Brook takes the catch to get dismiss Italy's Anthony Mosca during the T20 World Cup cricket match between England and Italy in Kolkata, India, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)