Walther leads German 4-man bobsled to World Cup win

ALTENBERG, Germany (AP) Junior world champion Nico Walther helped his German teammates win a four-man bobsled race for his first World Cup victory on Sunday, while four-time world champion Maximilian Arndt was taken to the hospital for checks after crashing.

Arndt, Alexander Roediger, Kevin Korona and Ben Heber flipped over at high speed onto their side while negotiating a curve during their first run. The German suffered a cut, bruises and suspected concussion. His teammates escaped unharmed.

''He wasn't the first and he won't be the last to come unstuck here. If Max gets through the night OK, he can start training again on Thursday,'' German team coach Christoph Langen said.

Walther and his team of Andreas Bredau, Marko Huebenbecker and Christian Poser were fastest in the first run and quick enough in the second to win in 1:48.11, edging Latvia's Oskars Melbardis, Daumants Dreiskens, Arvis Vilkaste and Janis Strenga by four hundredths of a second.

''It's unbelievable to get on the podium twice in my first World Cup here,'' said Walther, who finished third with Joshua Bluhm in Saturday's two-man race.

Switzerland's Rico Peter, Janne Bror van der Zijde, Thomas Amrhein and Simon Friedli were third, 0.67 seconds back.