Latvia Bobsleigh Fourth Place in First Run at Milan-Cortina Olympics 2026

Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – Germany continues to dominate the bobsleigh competition at the February 6-22 Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, setting a new track record in the four-man event on Saturday. While the German teams secured the top three positions in the first heat, Latvia’s crew, piloted by Jēkabs Kalenda, finished tenth, trailing the leaders by 0.73 seconds.

Johannes Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer set the pace with a blistering run of 53.91 seconds, establishing a new track record. Francesco Friedrich and Alexander Schuller followed closely behind, 0.39 seconds off the lead, while Great Britain’s Brad Hall and his team were third, 0.48 seconds behind Lochner.

Kalenda, along with brakemen Matīss Miknis, Lauris Kaufmanis, and Mairis Kļava, completed the course in 54.64 seconds. The Latvian team will compete in the second heat later today at 13:00 local time, with the remaining two heats scheduled for Sunday. A total of 27 teams are participating in the event.

This competition marks a significant moment for Latvia, as Kalenda is the sole Latvian pilot competing in the four-man bobsleigh event. Renārs Grantiņš was unable to participate due to an injury sustained during training. The absence of Grantiņš underscores the challenges faced by the Latvian team, highlighting Kalenda’s responsibility as the nation’s sole representative in this discipline.

The German dominance in bobsleigh is a continuation of their success in recent years. At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Friedrich’s team secured gold, Lochner’s crew took silver, and Canada’s Justin Kripps claimed bronze. Latvia’s Oskars Ķibermanis finished fifth in the four-man event at those Games. The current results suggest Germany is poised to continue its winning streak in Milano Cortina.

The two-man bobsleigh competition has already concluded, with German athletes sweeping the podium. Johannes Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer secured the gold medal, followed by Francesco Friedrich and Alexander Schuller with silver, and Adam Ammour and Alexander Schall with bronze. The results from the fourth heat of the two-man competition, held on February 17th, show Lochner and Fleischhauer finishing with a total time of 3:39.70, Friedrich and Schuller at 3:41.04 (+1.34), and Ammour and Schall at 3:41.52 (+1.82).

Latvia’s Jēkabs Kalenda and Matīss Miknis finished eighth in the two-man event, after holding sixth place following the first two runs. They ultimately fell to eighth after the third and fourth heats. Despite this result, Kalenda and Miknis will also compete in the four-man event alongside Kaufmanis and Kļava, with competitions scheduled for February 21st and February 22nd, starting at 11:00 Latvian time.

The Milano Cortina Winter Olympics are scheduled to continue until February 22nd, with bobsleigh remaining a key focus for many nations. The competition is fierce, and the German team appears to be the clear favorite, but Kalenda and the Latvian team will be aiming to improve on their performance and contend for a medal in the four-man event.