Canada targets German sledders

Olympic squads confident they have shot at podium

AWinter Olympics promises a crack in the German armour; a reason for bobsled pilots and crew from other nations to have the kind of hope that proves so futile during most World Cup seasons.

At Sochi 2014, German sleds didn't win a single medal. At Pyeongchang 2018, Canadian bobsledders celebrated a rare gold in the two-man event after Justin Kripps and Alex Kopacz tied Germany's Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis. Imagine that, tied after four runs through that icy chute.

Can it happen in Beijing? Will Friedrich and the other dominant German pilots — Johannes Lochner, Laura Nolte, Kim Kalicki and Mariam Jamanka — leave room on the podium for anyone else?

Canada named 18 bobsledders to its Olympic team on Thursday and every one of them believes it is possible to find the podium in each of the four disciplines: twoman, four-man, two-woman and monobob, which makes its Games debut in Beijing.

“I would just go ahead and say the expectation internally on our team is we have the opportunity to win two medals in two-man and four-man and by all means we expect to do that,” said Cam Stones, who has taken over for the now-retired Kopacz as brakeman for Kripps in two-man and is also part of his four-man crew. “We truly believe as a team we can do that.”

The Germans have been to the Olympic track and they have conquered it as well. Friedrich won both the two-man and four-man races at the test event last fall. In fact, German sleds won all four disciplines.

But for now, there is hope. The 18 bobsledders and three skeleton sliders named to the Olympic team have won a combined 76 World Cup and five World Championship medals in the past quadrennial.