Friedrich wins 80th World Cup bobsled gold, Humphries returns, USA Luge gets pair of top-5 finishes

ALTENBERG, Germany (AP) - Francesco Friedrich of Germany got the 80th World Cup win of his career Saturday, teaming with rookie Simon Wulff to prevail in the opening two-man bobsled race of the season.

It was Friedrich’s 133rd World Cup medal - including four-man results - in 188 races, and he’s now won 48 of his 100 two-man races on the circuit. Wulff was in a World Cup race for the first time.

Friedrich led a German sweep of the two-man medal positions: Johannes Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer were second, while Adam Ammour and Issam Ammour took third.

In the women’s monobob race later Saturday, reigning Olympic champion Kaillie Humphries of the U.S. returned to World Cup sliding less than six months after giving birth to her first child and finished seventh - best among the four U.S. sleds - in her first race on the circuit since February 2023.

Germany took gold and silver in monobob, with Laura Nolte winning and Lisa Buckwitz finishing second. Romania’s Andreea Grecu was third.

The two-woman and four-man races in Altenberg are Sunday.

USA Luge had a pair of top-five finishes at Igls, Austria, on Saturday, with Emily Sweeney fourth in the women’s race and the team of Chevonne Forgan and Sophie Kirkby fifth in the women’s doubles event.

Austria won four of the nine medals available Saturday, while Germany won three and Latvia two.

Austria’s Madeleine Egle won the women’s race on her home track, with Germany’s Julia Taubitz second and Austria’s Lisa Schulte third.

In men's doubles, the Latvian team of Martins Bots and Roberts Plume won, followed by Germany's Toni Eggert and Florian Mueller in second and the Austrian sled of Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl taking third.

And in women's doubles, Austria's Selina Egle and Lara Kipp prevailed, with Germany's Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal second and Latvia's Anda Upite and Zane Kaluma finishing third.

The men’s singles and team relay races are Sunday.