Francesco Friedrich returns to dominate the bobsleigh: Five reasons for his success

The message from Francesco Friedrich was unmistakable. The dominator is back - and how. With a demonstration of his strength, he raced to his eighth World Championship title in the two-man bobsleigh and is also the top favorite in the top class four-man bobsleigh as World Cup leader. Nevertheless, the 33-year-old from Pirna struggled with his self-image in his former showpiece discipline, having gone almost 15 months without a win in the small sled. There are five reasons for his return to the bobsleigh throne.

- Meticulousness: No bobsleigh pilot is as meticulous as "Franz", as he is known in the team. "He knows exactly what needs to be done, always thinks in a solution-oriented way and leaves nothing to chance," says head coach René Spies, praising the exceptional pilot. He searches and tinkers until even the smallest detail is found. "We found a small mistake, that made a big difference," said Friedrich after winning the title.

- Skid expert: The Saxon grinds the skids of his vehicle longer, more intensively and more lovingly than any other bobsledder on the World Cup circuit. Often for hours on end. Just like before the two-man bobsleigh race in Winterberg. "The runners were super well prepared. Our runner specialists gave us great help. That's such a small key to success," said Friedrich.

- Experience and ambition: Especially when things don't go as planned, which was rare in his career, every part of the bobsleigh is turned around to get a hundredth of a second out of it. Even on the track. "In training, I chose the right points, where I placed the trainers and looked to see where I might lose a lot of time," said Friedrich. That paid off.

- Home coach Gerd Leopold: The experienced coach, who led Harald Czudaj to Olympic victory in Lillehammer in 1994, knows exactly where to set the screws on his protégé, whom he described early on as a "talent of the century". "A satisfaction for Franz, because you also learn from second and third places," said Leopold, who has been coaching the most successful bobsleigh pilot for more than two decades. His maxim: "The art of ability lies in the will."

- Team: His pushers Thorsten Margis, Alexander Schüller, Candy Bauer and Felix Straub are a close-knit, well-coordinated and, above all, very strong team. The hundred-pound colossi live and breathe the idea of performance and can sometimes be persuaded by team boss Friedrich or home coach Leopold to do other training stimuli such as yoga.