German sleds sit in the top-two positions after the first two runs in the four-man bobsled. Francesco Friedrich piloted the top time of 1:57.00, and he is just 0.03 seconds ahead of fellow countryman Johannes Lochner.
Freidrich is the reigning gold medalist in the event and also defended his gold from PyeongChang in the two-man. Lochner and Christoph Hafer won silver and bronze in the two-man event for the only podium sweep of the Olympics so far.
Lochner led after the first run, but Friedrich topped him with a time of 58.71 in his second run.
Hafer sits in fourth in the four-man after the second run, as the Germans eye another podium sweep. They have historically been dominant in bobsled. Sledders from the country have claimed five of the last seven gold medals in the four-man event, including gold and silver four years ago in PyeongChang.
Only the United States (2010) and Latvia (2014) have kept Germany from winning gold in every four-man Olympic bobsled event since 1994.
SEE MORE: Del Duca leads U.S. four-man sled to 14th after two runs
SEE MORE: Church pilots USA to 13th after first two four-man runs
American pilots Frank Del Duca and Hunter Church, who are not expected to contend for a medal, sit outside the top 10. Church is 13th and 1.61 seconds back of the Friedrich and Del Duca is 15th and 1.82 seconds behind.
Canada's Justin Kripps is third, 0.38 seconds back of the lead.
The Jamaican team, piloted by Shanwayne Stephens and appearing in the Olympics for the first time in 24 years, gave it a valiant effort twice down the track but finished more than five seconds off the lead.
The final two runs take place on Saturday beginining at 8:30 p.m. ET. All four times will be combined together to determine a winner.
SEE MORE: Jamaica competes in four-man bobsled at Winter Olympics
