Podium! Baumgartner makes a strong statement.

Patrick Baumgartner made a strong statement on Sunday. At the World Cup in Igls near Innsbruck, the South Tyrolean raced onto the podium for the second time in his career in the four-man bobsleigh.

30 November 2025

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Together with Eric Fantazzini, Robert Mircea, and Lorenzo Bilotti, Baumgartner prevented a German sweep of the podium in the revamped Olympic ice track. The quartet led by 18-time world champion Francesco Friedrich snatched the victory, followed by his teammate Johannes Lochner (+0,28 seconds). Baumgartner and his teammates were already in third place at the halfway point, on track for a podium finish, but the skier from Puster Valley had to work hard for it in the final run.

The Italian team fell behind Lochner, who had been in fourth place previously, in the second run, but ultimately still had reason to celebrate: Germany's Adam Ammour, who was second after the first run, lost a lot of time on the ice track and finished one hundredth of a second behind Baumgartner (+0,48). This ended a two-year podium drought for the 30-year-old. His only previous World Cup podium finish came in November 2023 in Yanqing, China.

Baumgartner proud after strong performance

“The result proves that our work is paying off. We chose the right equipment, the runners were top-notch,” Baumgartner was quoted as saying in a press release from the Italian Winter Sports Federation (FISI). “Despite a few minor mistakes, we were very fast. We can now keep up with the Germans in the starting phase as well – everything is getting closer. Now we need to work on consistency, especially with an eye on the Olympic Games, where four runs count.”

The podium finishers are delighted with their success. © APA / EXPA/ JOHANN GRODER

After Innsbruck, the Bobsleigh World Cup moves to Lillehammer, Norway. The next competitions of the Olympic season will take place there on December 13th and 14th.

Keywords Winter sports Bob Patrick Baumgartner World Cup igls