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From the Olympics Toword Tomorrow
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German team leads rain-shortened four-man bobsleigh
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15:00- Start
Germany II took the lead after the first day of the Nagano Olympic four-man bobsleigh event Friday, hit by a steady rainfall that forced organizers to cancel the second run.
Christoph Langen and his crew ran down the 1,700-meter Spiral course with a track record time of 52.70 seconds to carry a 0.07-second lead over Britain II into Saturday's two runs that will decide the gold medal.
Langen piloted a German team to the two-man bronze medal last Sunday as well as at the Albertville Games six years ago.
The British team piloted by Sean Olsson finished the first run in a surprise second place in front of Switzerland II, which clocked 52.88 seconds to sit 0.11 second further behind.
U.S. II, driven by previous track record holder Brian Shimer, placed fourth and Lativia I and Austria I followed in fifth and sixth, respectively.
Japan I stands in 14th 1.03 seconds adrift of the leader while Japan II was 19th 1.32 seconds behind.
Amid the constant rain and warm temperatures, race organizers canceled the day's second run and changed the format from four runs to a three-run event that will conclude with Saturday's two runs.
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Copyright 1998 The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun