Friedrich leads 4-man world bobsled title race as weather takes its toll on Lake Placid track

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (AP) — Germany’s Francesco Friedrich is well on his way to another world bobsled title.

And that was about the only predictable development in the four-man world championship race that started Friday at Mount Van Hoevenberg.

The second heat of the four-heat race was canceled — after it had been run in its entirety — Friday because of track conditions getting worse as the air temperature climbed quickly, the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation said.

That decision came after Germany’s Johannes Lochner had one of the runners attached to his sled damaged by sliding through bare spots on the track. He also had damage to the front of his sled from something that happened as he jumped in at the start, which wouldn’t have been caused by any track condition issue.

Germany successfully appealed and Lochner could have taken his second run again, but the jury decided that warmer air wouldn't have led to that re-run having a fair result. So, the entire heat was canceled.

“The competition will resume (Saturday) as planned with heats 3 and 4,” the IBSF said.

Weather-permitting, that is.

It was about 25 degrees Fahrenheit (-4 degrees Celsius) when racing started Friday and climbed to about 48 degrees (8 degrees Celsius) when the four-man event was done for the morning. And the weather forecast for Saturday calls for even warmer air.

Friedrich — a 15-time world champion, with nine two-man golds and four two-man golds on his resume along with two more Olympic golds in both disciplines — was going to be the leader anyway. His one-run time is 54.23 seconds, with Lochner (54.52) second and Britain's Brad Hall (54.54) third.

Had the second run counted, Hall would have been second, with Germany's Adam Ammour third, Frank Del Duca of the U.S. fourth, Kris Horn of the U.S. in fifth and Lochner in sixth. Instead, it's officially Friedrich, Lochner and Hall in the top three spots, followed by Ammour, Del Duca and then Horn and South Korea's Jinsu Kim tied for sixth.

“We've prepared. We're ready. It's just time to make consistent runs,” Del Duca said.

The four-man race is scheduled to resume at 8 a.m. Saturday, followed by the final two runs of women's bobsled in the early afternoon.

The leaderboard after Day 1 of the two-woman bobsled championship looks like this: Germany, Germany, Germany, United States, United States, United States.

Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi finished their two runs in 1 minute, 52.77 seconds, good enough for a lead of 0.23 seconds over Kim Kalicki and Leonie Fiebig. Lisa Buckwitz and Kira Lipperheide capped off the German grip on the top three spots Friday, finishing another two-tenths of a second off the lead.

Germany is looking to sweep the two-woman medals at the world championships for the second straight year. A year ago, Buckwitz drove to the win, with Nolte second and Kalicki third.

World monobob champion Kaysha Love led the American contingent on Day 1, after she and Jazmine Jones were fourth in 1:53.53. Kaillie Humphries and Emily Renna are fifth for the U.S., with Elana Meyers Taylor and Lolo Jones sixth.

All three U.S. sleds still have a medal shot on Saturday.

“Push hard. Drive fast," Humphries said. "That's always the strategy.”

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Elana Meyers Taylor and Lolo Jones, of the United States, start their first run of the 2-woman bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Kaillie Armbruster Humphries and Emily Renna, of the United States, start their first run of the 2-woman bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Kaysha Love and Jasmine Jones, of the United States, start their first run of the 2-woman bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Switzerland's Michael Vogt, Gregory Jones, Dominik Hufschmid and David Amadou Ndiaye load the sled in the second heat of the 4-man bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

South Korea's Jinsu Kim, Sunwook Kim, Hyeonggeun Kim and Genoa Lee load the sled on their second run of the 4-man bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Britain's Brad Hall, Arran Gulliver, Taylor Lawrence and Greg Cackett load the sled at the start of their second run in the 4-man bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

United States pusher Joshua Williamson loads behind pilot Frank del Duca, along with pusher Boone Niederhofer and brakeman Charles Volker on their second run of the 4-man bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Germany's Francesco Friedrich, Matthias Sommer, Alexander Schuller and Felix Straub start their second run in the 4-man bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Germany's Johannes Lochner, Florian Bauer, Jörn Wenzel and Georg Fleischhauer load their sled at the start of the second run of the 4-man bobsled race during the bobsled world championships, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has told allies to “keep the pressure” on Russian President Vladimir Putin to back a ceasefire in Ukraine, hailing Ukraine as the “party of peace.”

In his opening remarks Saturday, Starmer said Putin will “sooner or later” have to “come to the table.”

Unlike the first summit on March 2, the meeting of what Starmer has termed the “coalition of the willing” is being conducted virtually. The call is expected to delve into how countries can help Ukraine militarily and financially as well as gauging support for any future possible peacekeeping mission in the event Putin backs a cessation of hostilities.

“My feeling is that sooner or later he's going to have to come to the table and engage in serious discussion, but — this is a big but for us this morning in our meeting — we can’t sit back and simply wait for that to happen," Starmer told leaders while sitting in front of a screen in an office in 10, Downing Street.

“I think that means strengthening Ukraine so they can defend themselves, and strengthening, obviously, in terms of military capability, in terms of funding, in terms of the provision of further support from all of us to Ukraine.”

Around 25 countries are expected to be involved in the call, including European partners such as France and Italy, and Ukraine. Leaders from Australia, Canada and New Zealand, as well as officials from NATO and the European Union’s executive, are also set to take part. The United States is not represented at the meeting.

Saturday’s meeting takes place in the wake of a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has backed. Putin has indicated that he supports a truce in principle but has set out a host of details that need to be clarified before agreeing to a ceasefire.

“President Zelensky, who’s with us this morning, has shown once again that Ukraine is the party of peace, because he has agreed to and committed to a 30-day unconditional ceasefire," Starmer said. “Now what we see, and this is centerpiece for our discussions today, is that Putin is the one trying to delay.”

The United States has shifted its approach on the war since the return of President Donald Trump to the White House. The change of approach relative to that taken by Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, became particularly notable after Trump clashed with Zelenskyy on Feb. 28 in the Oval Office.

Trump voiced optimism Friday that Putin, who met with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff earlier in the week, will back a ceasefire.

“I'm getting from the standpoint about a ceasefire and ultimately a deal some pretty good vibes coming out of Russia,” he said.

Starmer has taken the lead, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, in assembling the “coalition of the willing,” in part to persuade Trump to maintain support for Kyiv. One outcome has already been a growing acceptance from European countries in particular that they need to do more to ensure their own security, including by increasing their defense spending.

Images from the Elysee showed Macron and his aides listening to Starmer's opening statement in a room of the French presidential palace.

Ukraine, under severe military pressure on parts of the front line three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, has already endorsed the truce proposal. Russia’s army has gained battlefield momentum, and analysts say Putin likely will be reluctant to rush into a ceasefire while he feels he has an advantage.

Starmer said that if Putin is “serious about peace,” he has to “stop his barbaric attacks" on Ukraine and agree to a ceasefire.

“The world is watching,” he said.

John Leicester in Paris contributed to this report.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks with European leaders at the beginning of a video conference at 10 Downing Street in London, England, March 15, 2025. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks with European leaders at the beginning of a video conference at 10 Downing Street in London, England, March 15, 2025. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks with European leaders at the beginning of a video conference at 10 Downing Street in London, England, March 15, 2025. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron, second left, , shakes hands with Colonel-General Ruslan Khomchak, First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, as French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu, right, and Chief of Staff of the French Armed Forces Thierry Burkhard, left, look on during a meeting on the conflict in Ukraine at the Musee de la Marine as part of the Paris Defense and Strategy Forum in Paris, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro during their talks via videoconference at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 14, 2025. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during the briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, March 14, 2025, Russian soldiers ride atop of self-propelled gun at an area in the Kursk region of Russia after it was taken over by Russian troops. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, March 14, 2025, a Russian soldier rises a red flag atop of a house at an area in the Kursk region of Russia after it was taken over by Russian troops. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer gestures during a Q&A session after delivering a speech on plans to reform the civil service, during a visit to Reckitt Benckiser Health Care UK Ltd in Kingston upon Hull, England, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (Oli Scarff/Pool Photo via AP)

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer departs 10 Downing Street to attend Prime Minister's Questions at the Houses of Parliament in London, England, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)