Bobsleigh betting at ibet is where ice-cold efficiency meets surgical strategy. This is where four heats over two days separate champions from competitors and margins of hundredths of a second rewrite entire narratives. Milano Cortina 2026 has already delivered one of the great Olympic bobsleigh upsets, and with the 4-man final still ahead on February 21–22, the best action is right now.
Two events are done. Two remain. Germany’s iron grip on the sport is as tight as ever in the men’s events, but the women’s monobob just proved, for the second consecutive Olympics, that no lead and no favourite is safe when it matters most. Here’s everything you need to understand the sport, read the markets, and find genuine value in the bobsleigh odds at ibet.
Before you place your first bet on the 4-man, swing by our promotions page first. You can pick up 5% weekly cashback on sports losses (up to €200) every Monday with no wagering attached. During Milano Cortina 2026, qualifying customers can also unlock a €10 Free Bet through the Winter Olympics Free Bet Rush.
Then hit the ibet betting news blog for fresh sharp angles across every event. And if you want the full winter sports picture, our Winter Olympics guide covers everything from alpine skiing to curling.
Milano Cortina 2026: Bobsleigh Betting Results So Far
Two events have already been decided at the Cortina Sliding Centre. Here’s what happened and what it tells you heading into the remaining finals.
Men’s 2-Man Bobsleigh — Germany Sweep
Johannes Lochner delivered the most dominant 2-man performance in nearly half a century, winning all four heats and crossing the line with a 1.34-second margin over silver medallist Francesco Friedrich. That is the largest winning gap in the Olympic 2-man event since 1980. His brakeman Georg Fleischhauer, a 37-year-old former German 400m hurdles champion making his Winter Olympic debut, was an inspired choice.
Germany landed a clean 1-2-3 podium sweep, with Ammour taking bronze at just 24 years old on his Olympic debut. The best non-German finish was fourth, achieved by USA’s Frank Del Duca in the best American result in 70 years. The markets had Germany winning; nobody had predicted the margin.
Official Final Standings — Men’s 2-Man Bobsleigh
| Pos. | Pilot / Brakeman | Country | Time | Notes |
| Gold | Lochner / Fleischhauer | Germany | Winner | +1.34s margin — largest in 46 years |
| Silver | Friedrich / Sommer | Germany | +1.34s | Defending champion; chasing 4-man three-peat |
| Bronze | Ammour / Ammour | Germany | +2.15s | Age 24 on Olympic debut — key watch in 4-man |
Women’s Monobob — Major Upset
This is the event that makes bobsleigh betting genuinely exciting. Laura Nolte entered as the heavy favourite after sweeping both the monobob and 2-woman World Cup overall titles in 2025–26. She led through three heats. Then, in the final run, she made a costly error. Elana Meyers Taylor (USA), 41 years old, won gold by 0.04 seconds. Kaillie Humphries (USA) took bronze.
It was the second consecutive Olympics where the monobob gold went to a non-German pilot as Humphries won in Beijing 2022. The standardised identical sleds used in this event remove Germany’s equipment advantage entirely. What remains is pure pilot skill and nerve. Nolte had both in abundance for three heats, then cracked at the worst possible moment.
The monobob result has a direct read-through to the upcoming 2-woman event. Nolte’s final-run error under Olympic pressure is a data point that her ~1.20 2-woman pricing does not fully absorb.
Official Final Standings — Women’s Monobob
| Pos. | Pilot | Country | Time | Notes |
| Gold | Elana Meyers Taylor | USA | 3:57.93 | Age 41; 6th Olympic medal; won by 0.04s in final run |
| Silver | Laura Nolte | Germany | 3:57.97 | Led through Heat 3; final-run error cost gold |
| Bronze | Kaillie Humphries | USA | 3:58.05 | 5th Olympic medal; enters 2-woman with momentum |
Bobsleigh Betting: What’s Still to Come
Nolte goes in as the dominant favourite off the back of a historic 2025–26 World Cup season — four wins from seven races in this discipline, clean sweep of both overall titles, and the 2022 Olympic gold already on her record. She is the most technically complete female pilot in the world right now.
Women’s 2-Woman Bobsleigh — Feb 21, 2026
But the monobob showed she is not immune to final-run pressure mistakes. At 1.65, the market has tightened significantly from pre-Games levels, reflecting the weight of Nolte’s season. Humphries (3.25) and Lisa Buckwitz (4.25) are the main alternatives. The sharpest angle is that Meyers Taylor, the reigning monobob champion riding the most significant momentum of any pilot at these Games, opens at a remarkable 25.00 — a price that does not reflect her current psychological state or her form on this track this week.
Women’s 2-Woman Bobsleigh — (February 20, 2026)
| Pilot | Country | Odds | Notes |
| Laura Nolte | Germany | 1.65 | WC overall champion 2025–26; 2022 Olympic gold; led 3 heats before monobob final-run error |
| Kaillie Humphries | USA | 3.25 | 5 Olympic medals; 2nd in WC 2-woman standings; bronze this week; excellent value |
| Lisa Buckwitz | Germany | 4.25 | Strong German #2; World Cup podium form; benefits from German sled advantage |
| Kaysha Love | USA | 17.00 | USA depth option; long shot but American programme in excellent form |
| Kim Kalicki | Germany | 19.00 | Experienced German pilot; World Cup finisher; third German string |
| Elana Meyers Taylor | USA | 25.00 | Reigning Olympic monobob champion; maximum momentum; significantly underpriced |
| Melanie Hasler | Switzerland | 35.00 | Consistent WC finisher; outside chance on technical Cortina track |
Analysis: Nolte at 1.65 is a very different proposition to the pre-race 1.20 she was being discussed at — the market has widened correctly to reflect the monobob. She remains the class of the field and the structural favourite; German sled technology returns in full for the 2-woman, and Nolte’s 2025–26 WC dominance in this discipline is not in dispute. At 1.65, you are getting a genuine discount on the most technically complete women’s pilot in the world.
Bobsleigh Betting Best Bets
Humphries at 3.25 is the most straightforward value position. She is the second-best pilot in the 2-woman WC standings, arrives in this event with an Olympic bronze medal in her pocket, and has already shown she can beat Nolte on this track this week. The 3.25 implies roughly a 31% chance — that is low for a pilot of this calibre in this form.
The most interesting line on the board is Elana Meyers Taylor at 25.00. She just won the monobob gold. She is competing on the same ice, in the same competition window, in the same psychological peak. The 2-woman is a different sled and a different event, but the 25.00 treats her as a rank outsider when the form and momentum say otherwise. A small stake here as a value play is rational.
Women’s 2-Woman Bobsleigh
- Best Bet: Kaillie Humphries to Win Gold — 3.25. The cleanest value on the board. She is second in the world in this discipline, riding Olympic bronze medal momentum, and priced as though she has only a 31% chance against Nolte. The monobob proved that chance is real.
- Value Play: Elana Meyers Taylor to Win Gold — 25.00. A small-stakes bet on the reigning Olympic champion in the middle of the best competitive week of her career. The 2-woman is not the monobob, but 25.00 is a severe mispricing of what she just did on this ice.
- Safe Play: Nolte to Win Gold — 1.65. If you are backing the favourite, 1.65 is a better number than the 1.20 she was being quoted at pre-Games. The season form is unambiguous. If Nolte produces four clean runs, nothing else is relevant.
Men’s 4-Man Bobsleigh — Feb 22, 2026
The marquee remaining event. Four heats, two days, Germany occupying the top three spots in the odds, and a genuinely fascinating internal battle between three pilots who all have legitimate claims to gold.
Lochner arrives as the 1.54 favourite after his dominant 2-man performance. His 2025–26 season has been historically good: six of seven World Cup 2-man wins, a record margin in the Olympic final. His 4-man crew includes Thorsten Margis, Friedrich’s legendary former brakeman with four Olympic golds to his name. This is Lochner’s last international competition as a pilot. The stage is set for a perfect farewell.
Friedrich at 4.00 is the most analytically interesting bet on the board. He has won this specific event at two consecutive Olympics (2018, 2022) and has a well-documented history of outperforming his World Cup form at the Games themselves. A pilot who has never lost the Olympic 4-man final is pricing at 4.00. His 2-man silver this week confirms he is performing at the highest level. Third consecutive 4-man gold would be the greatest individual achievement in bobsleigh history.
Men’s 4-Man Bobsleigh Odds
Ammour at 3.60 is the wild card. He is 24, already an Olympic bronze medallist from this week, and won his first 4-man World Cup this season at St. Moritz. Youth and World Cup momentum are compelling arguments. Whether they outweigh two Olympic titles and Friedrich’s championship DNA is the central question of this event.
| Pilot | Country | Odds | Notes |
| Johannes Lochner | Germany | 1.54 | Season WC leader; dominant 2-man gold; farewell race with Margis (4x Olympic gold) in crew |
| Adam Ammour | Germany | 3.60 | Age 24; Olympic bronze this week; 4-man WC win at St. Moritz this season |
| Francesco Friedrich | Germany | 4.00 | 2-time consecutive Olympic 4-man champion; documented history of peaking at the Games |
| Brad Hall | Great Britain | 34.00 | IBSF #4 ranking; World Championship silver (2023) and bronze (2025) |
| Frank Del Duca | USA | 41.00 | 4th in 2-man — best American result in 70 years; carries momentum into 4-man |
Analysis: Lochner at 1.54 is a compressed price on the man who just posted the most dominant 2-man performance in 46 years. He arrives with his best-ever crew, his best-ever season, and the weight of a farewell narrative. The case for backing him is straightforward. The case against: the 4-man is a different event with different crew chemistry to build, and his opponent is a man who has won it twice and who the market is pricing at 4.00 specifically because he was second in the World Cup this season — not because he cannot pilot a 4-man sled.
Betting Tips for Bobsleigh Betting
Friedrich at 4.00 represents a systematic market inefficiency. His 4-man Olympic record is perfect: gold in 2018, gold in 2022. The market is pricing his current 4-man win probability at 25% (implied by 4.00), but any honest assessment of his head-to-head record in this specific event at the Olympics would put that number significantly higher. His 2-man silver shows he is not blunted by age or by Lochner’s dominance this season. He has simply not yet had the chance to demonstrate whether the 4-man Olympic version of Friedrich shows up as it always has.
Ammour at 3.60 is interesting. He is the youngest pilot on the podium this week, already medalled on this ice, and won a 4-man World Cup race. But he is also the least experienced in a 4-man Olympic final, and the four-heat cumulative format rewards the type of metronomic consistency Friedrich in particular has shown over two Olympic cycles. His 3.60 is narrower than his experience profile justifies relative to Friedrich at 4.00.
Best Bets — Men’s 4-Man Bobsleigh
- Best Bet: Francesco Friedrich to Win Gold — 4.00. The cleanest analytical bet at these Games. Two consecutive Olympic gold medals in this exact event, a history of peaking for the Olympics beyond his World Cup form, and pricing that treats him as a 25% chance when his Olympic-specific record says much more. At 4.00, you are buying proven Olympic championship DNA at a discount.
- Safe Play: Johannes Lochner to Win Gold — 1.54. The form book, the season record, the farewell narrative, and the strongest crew of his career all point here. At 1.54 the return is modest but the probability is real. This is the most likely single outcome on February 21–22.
- Portfolio Play: Back Friedrich (4.00) for 1 unit and Lochner (1.54) for 2 units. If Lochner wins, you break roughly even or small profit on the combined position. If Friedrich wins, you return 4 units on that stake. Given that the podium is overwhelmingly likely to be German 1-2 in some order, this construction covers the two most probable outcomes with asymmetric upside on the historically underpriced pilot.
- Long Shot: Brad Hall to Win Gold — 34.00. Hall is a two-time World Championship medallist who has been at the edge of the podium for two seasons. The 34.00 only needs to come in once every 34 attempts to be break-even. At small stakes this is a rational entertainment position.
How Bobsleigh Works: What Every Bettor Needs to Know
Understanding the sport’s mechanics is non-negotiable before placing money on any bobsleigh market. The rules shape exactly where value lives and where casual bettors get caught out.
The Push Phase is Everything
Bobsleigh does not have a gas pedal. The entire energy budget of a run is determined in the first five to six seconds, when athletes sprint approximately 50 metres on ice while pushing a sled that can weigh over 200 kilograms fully loaded. The push gets the sled to 40 km/h before athletes jump in; everything after that is physics and steering.
The critical betting implication: 0.1 seconds lost during the push phase translates to approximately 0.3 seconds lost at the finish line — a 3x amplification factor. Research consistently shows a correlation of r ≥ 0.71 between push rankings and final race rankings. The IBSF publishes live push times during heats on their website and YouTube livestreams. Most casual bettors never look at this data. That is your edge.
Four Heats, Cumulative Time, One Chance
Olympic bobsleigh uses four timed runs across two days: two on day one, two on day two. Total cumulative time decides the medals. In the 4-man, the slowest sleds after Heat 3 are eliminated, with only the top 20 advancing to the final run. There are no comeback mechanisms, no second chances — every run is permanent.
The four-heat format strongly rewards consistency over peak speed. A sled that produces one brilliant run and three average ones will lose to a sled that posts steady times across all four. This is precisely why the German programme — built on marginal consistency gains through superior equipment and data analytics — is harder to beat at a four-run Olympic event than on the two-run World Cup circuit.
Start Order and Ice Conditions
The top 10 IBSF-ranked pilots choose their start positions in Heat 1 first. Early starters benefit from cleaner, faster ice; later starters battle ruts from previous runs. Heat 2 reverses the order based on Heat 1 results. In the Dolomites, overnight temperatures can shift significantly between day one and day two. Colder conditions produce harder, faster ice. These are genuine, unpriced variables in between-heat live betting.
Why Germany Wins Everything (And What It Means for Your Bets)
Germany’s dominance in bobsleigh is structural, not cyclical. The country has four dedicated sliding tracks — more than any other nation on earth — creating a development pipeline that runs year-round. The government-funded FES Institute in Berlin builds sleds using Formula One-grade carbon fibre to specifications no other programme matches. A BMW partnership since 2010 provides wind tunnel testing and aerodynamic optimisation, including a “Data Coach” analytics system that processes run data faster than any rival team, helping Germany adapt to new tracks faster than the competition.
The results: at Beijing 2022, Germany won seven of eight sliding gold medals and 12 of 24 total medals. In the four-year cycle between 2021 and 2025, German pilots won 34 of 35 two-man races across the World Cup, World Championships, and Olympics combined.
For bettors, the framework is simple. In the men’s events, the question is never Germany or not Germany. The question is which German pilot wins. In the women’s events, Germany remains dominant in the 2-woman but the monobob is a structurally different market.
The Monobob Exception: Where Upsets Live
The women’s monobob uses standardised identical sleds — every athlete drives the same iXent-manufactured chassis. Germany’s equipment advantage disappears completely. The result: two Olympic editions, two non-German gold medallists. Humphries in 2022. Meyers Taylor in 2026. If you are looking for genuine upset potential in bobsleigh betting, the monobob is the only event that structurally allows it. In the 2-woman, Germany’s sled technology returns, but Nolte’s pressure record is now a live question.
The Cortina Track Factor
The Cortina Sliding Centre “Eugenio Monti” is a completely new facility — a €118 million ground-up reconstruction opened in November 2025. All nations had only a 10-day training window and one World Cup weekend to learn it before the Olympics. Germany swept all four bobsleigh events at that November test event. Their BMW Data Coach system processed the limited training data faster than rival programmes. The November Cortina World Cup results are the single most predictive data point for these Olympic events.
Bobsleigh Betting Markets at ibet
ibet offers a full set of bobsleigh markets for Milano Cortina 2026. Here is how each one works and when to use it.
Outright Winner (Gold Medal Markets)
Pick the sled that wins gold in a specific discipline. In the men’s events, you are effectively choosing between German pilots. In the women’s monobob, the field is genuinely open. Outright markets are most valuable when you have a specific angle on which German wins, rather than whether Germany wins. Use outrights when you have a strong read on conditions and form — not as your default position in the men’s events simply because you have a favourite.
Podium / Top 3 Markets
One of the best-value structures in bobsleigh because the podium in most events is essentially Germany vs Germany vs Germany. Top 3 markets let you back a specific pilot finishing on the medal stand without needing to call the exact order. In the 4-man, backing Friedrich or Ammour for a podium at odds better than their gold medal price is a sound risk-management approach when you think the German podium sweep is likely but cannot call who is on top.
Head-to-Head Matchups
H2H markets pit two sleds directly against each other on cumulative time, regardless of where either finishes overall. This is where real information asymmetry matters most. If you have a view on Friedrich vs Lochner based on push times from completed heats, track suit to Cortina’s technical upper section, or second-day weather, an H2H market lets you express that view without needing the rest of the field to cooperate. Standard settlement: both sleds must start for the bet to stand; if one crashes and the other finishes, the finisher wins the H2H.
Nation Medal Count / Futures
Germany’s multi-sled entries make them a near-lock for the majority of bobsleigh medals at any Olympics. In a nation medal count futures market where bobsleigh contributes significantly to a country’s total, Germany’s sliding programme depth can swing overall medal projections. ibet’s futures coverage includes country medal specials for the Games overall, and this is one of the less volatile ways to take a position on German sliding dominance across all four disciplines.
Key Pilots You Need to Know
Johannes Lochner (Germany) — The Man of the Moment
Lochner’s 2025–26 season is one of the greatest individual bobsleigh campaigns on record: six World Cup wins from seven 2-man starts, the Olympic 2-man gold with a record 1.34-second margin, and a farewell tour that has so far been flawless. He is 35 and this is his final season as a competitor. His 4-man crew includes Thorsten Margis, Friedrich’s legendary former brakeman with four Olympic golds. The market has him as the -185 favourite. It is a defensible position.
Francesco Friedrich (Germany) — The Greatest Chasing History
Friedrich, 35, is the most decorated pilot in the sport’s history. Four Olympic golds, one silver, 16 individual World Championship titles. He is the only pilot to win both men’s events at two consecutive Olympics (2018, 2022). His 2-man silver this week fits his Olympic pattern: he races to win gold, not to dominate qualifying. At +300 for the 4-man — an event he has won at every Olympics he has entered — he represents the most analytically interesting bet remaining at these Games. Third consecutive 4-man gold would be the greatest individual achievement in bobsleigh history.
Adam Ammour (Germany) — The 24-Year-Old Wild Card
Ammour’s trajectory is extraordinary: first international race in November 2022, European Champion in 2024, Olympic bronze at age 24 on his debut in 2026. He won his first 4-man World Cup at St. Moritz this season. At +260 for the 4-man, he offers the best combination of value and genuine medal chance among the German pilots if you believe World Cup momentum and youth outweigh Olympic-specific experience.
Kaillie Humphries (USA) — Five Olympic Medals and Still Going
Humphries, 40, is competing in her sixth Winter Olympics with five Olympic medals already to her name. She finished second in the 2025–26 World Cup 2-woman standings behind Nolte and arrives in the 2-woman final with a bronze medal from this week and the psychological advantage of having already beaten Germany’s top pilot on this exact track.
Laura Nolte (Germany) — Dominant Season, One Moment of Doubt
The best women’s bobsleigh pilot in the world right now by almost any metric, except the one that mattered most on February 19. Nolte, 27, swept both women’s World Cup overall titles in 2025–26 and won Olympic gold in Beijing 2022. At ~1.20 for the 2-woman, the market says her monobob error was an aberration. Humphries and the American sleds say it might not be.
Brad Hall (Great Britain) — The Best Non-German in the Field
Hall is the most credible non-German pilot remaining, with World Championship silver (2023) and bronze (2025). His +3300 odds accurately reflect the structural gap between Germany and the rest of the world — not a specific weakness in his preparation. If there is a scenario where a non-German wins the 4-man in Cortina, Hall’s name belongs in it. Whether that warrants a small entertainment stake at long odds is a personal decision.
Smart Bobsleigh Betting Strategy
Read Push Times, Not Just Final Times
The IBSF publishes live push times during every heat. Because push phase performance explains roughly 70% of final run variance, a bettor monitoring this data between heats is working with information that sportsbook lines do not fully absorb. Push times are your primary live handicapping tool. If Lochner posts the fastest push in Heat 1 but sits second overall due to a minor mid-track correction, the in-play market may not have adjusted quickly enough. That is your window.
The German Intra-Market is Where the Value Lives
You will not find meaningful value in Germany vs the world in the men’s events. The value exists in the relative odds between Lochner (-185), Ammour (+260), and Friedrich (+300). Friedrich at +300 is the sharpest position: two consecutive Olympic gold medals in this specific event, a documented history of raising his game at the Olympics, and pricing that reflects his 2025–26 World Cup season rather than his Olympic-specific record.
The Monobob Principle: Back the Format, Not Just the Form
Every four years, the monobob delivers an upset. This is not bad luck — it is the direct result of standardised equipment removing Germany’s structural advantage. The lesson for the 2-woman is indirect but real: Nolte is not unbeatable at these Games, even on this track, even with this season’s form. Podium-market exposure on both American pilots in the 2-woman represents a structurally sound position, not a contrarian gamble.
Between-Heat Live Windows
The four-run format creates natural repricing opportunities other Olympic sports simply do not offer. After Heat 1, check whether your pre-race assessments hold. Then, after Heat 2, the day-two weather forecast becomes relevant for equipment setup decisions. After Heat 3, eliminated teams exit the market entirely and the field narrows. Each of these moments is a live betting opportunity if you have done the pre-race work on push times, crew composition, and track fit.
Stake Sizing in a High-Variance Sport
Bobsleigh is decided by hundredths of a second across four runs, and crashes can eliminate a favourite from any position at any moment. That demands smaller absolute stakes than lower-volatility sports. If your standard bet in football is 1% of bankroll, work with 0.5–0.75% for H2H and podium bets in bobsleigh, and 0.25–0.5% for outrights. The offset is that your information edge is proportionally larger in a market this specialised — thin markets magnify research advantages.
Bobsleigh Betting FAQs
How does bobsleigh betting work?
Bobsleigh betting at ibet works like most individual Olympic sports. You select a discipline (2-man, 4-man, 2-woman, or women’s monobob), choose a market type (outright winner, top 3 podium, head-to-head), and place your stake at the offered decimal odds. For Milano Cortina 2026, the remaining events are the Women’s 2-Woman (February 20–21) and Men’s 4-Man (February 21–22).
How is the winner decided in Olympic bobsleigh?
The winner is the team or pilot with the lowest cumulative time across four timed runs over two days. Races are measured to the hundredth of a second. In the 4-man, the slowest sleds are eliminated after Heat 3, leaving only the top 20 for the final run. There are no second chances — every run counts in the final total.
What happens to my bet if a sled crashes?
Settlement rules vary by market type. For outright gold medal bets, a sled that crashes and fails to complete a run is a non-finisher and loses. For head-to-head markets, if one sled crashes and the other finishes, the finisher wins the H2H regardless of their overall position. If both sleds in a H2H fail to finish, most books void the bet. Always check ibet’s specific winter sports settlement rules before placing a stake.
Does start order matter in bobsleigh betting?
Yes, meaningfully. In Heat 1, the top 10 IBSF-ranked pilots choose their start positions first, typically selecting the cleanest ice. Later starters battle ruts and degraded ice. Heat 2 reverses the order based on Heat 1 results. Overnight temperature changes between day one and day two alter track conditions. These are genuinely unpriced variables in between-heat live betting.
Why does Germany dominate bobsleigh?
Germany’s advantage is structural. Four dedicated sliding tracks, the FES government-funded engineering institute building F1-grade sleds, and a BMW partnership providing wind tunnel testing and a real-time data analytics system. The result: Germany won 34 of 35 two-man World Cup and Olympic races in the previous four-year cycle. The only event where their advantage disappears is the women’s monobob, where all athletes use identical standardised sleds.
Which bobsleigh events are left at Milano Cortina 2026?
As of February 20, 2026: Women’s 2-Woman Bobsleigh (February 20–21, currently in progress) and Men’s 4-Man Bobsleigh (February 21–22). The Men’s 2-Man (Lochner gold, February 15–17) and Women’s Monobob (Meyers Taylor gold, February 18–19) are complete.
All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and may have moved since the content was published. Betting markets shift constantly based on action and betting news. For the latest odds and current lines, visit the ibet Sportsbook.
