Germany's Johannes Lochner starts fast in Olympic 2-man bobsled race. Del Duca in medal hunt for US

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy — The two-man bobsled competition at the Milan Cortina Olympics is four runs over two days, the same format the event has used for nearly a century.

Germany's Johannes Lochner might have ended this year's event in exactly 54.68 seconds.

That was Lochner's time in the first run Monday, giving him a lead that only got bigger — much bigger — as the day went along. Lochner and brakeman Georg Fleischhauer finished their two runs in 1 minute, 49.90 seconds, and nothing short of a disaster on their end should keep them from winning gold in the final two runs on Tuesday night.

''Such a big lead,'' Flesichhauer said. ''We didn't really expect that.''

Their margin at the midway point is 0.80 seconds. Here's some historical perspective of how absolutely one-sided that is: If you add up the halftime leads in the last nine Olympic two-man races, combined, it comes out to 0.58 seconds. And the average halftime lead since 1964 — just 0.25 seconds.

This is a bobsled blowout.

''He might be perfect,'' U.S. pilot and medal contender Frank Del Duca said.

Reigning world and Olympic two-man champion Francesco Friedrich, who has been looking up at Lochner all season in the World Cup rankings, finished two runs in 1:50.70 seconds. He's the only one within a second of Lochner; Germany's Adam Ammour is third in 1:51.14, with Del Duca and Josh Williamson fourth in 1:51.24.

Friedrich is at the Milan Cortina Games trying to become the first five-time gold medalist in Olympic bobsled history, after sweeping the two- and four-man races at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games and the 2022 Beijing Games.

''We have to give all what we can do," said Friedrich, widely considered the best bobsledder ever. "We want to make the best push times, the best drives tomorrow. ... The race is over when four runs are in the finish.''

Technically, that's true.

In reality, though, it might be over. The race might really be for third between Ammour and Del Duca.

Del Duca is bidding to be the first U.S. medalist in two-man since Steven Holcomb and Steven Langton grabbed silver at the 2014 Sochi Games.

''I left quite a bit of time out there," Del Duca said. "I mean, as drivers, we always do. I don't know if someone can really walk away and say it was a perfect run. I haven't seen Lochner's runs. ... But for us to be this close, it's really just a testament to our whole system, our people behind us, how hard everybody's been working.''

Del Duca, one of the two U.S. flagbearers entering the Olympics, is driving the only two-man sled the Americans have in the competition, after officials would not let pilot Kris Horn compete because he finished four — one shy of the minimum — out of seven World Cup races this winter.

Horn will race in the four-man event later this week.

Lochner is in what he says is his final season and won the World Cup two- and four-man overall titles this winter. He won medals in all 14 World Cup races — nine gold and five silver, never finishing worse than second. And in two-man, he was especially dominant with six wins in seven races.

''I have a wife and child waiting for me at home,'' Lochner said.

A trip to the top of the Olympic medal podium seems to be waiting for him as well.

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