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KONIGSSEE, Germany — Justin Kripps piloted his four-man Canadian bobsled crew to their first-ever podium in Konigssee, Germany, winning the bronze on Sunday.
Kripps, from Summerland, B.C., captured his fifth international two-man medal on the track Saturday when he and Cam Stones of Whitby, Ont., celebrated the silver. But the Canadian pilot had never slid onto the four-man podium in Kongissee.
Kripps and Stones completed the double-medal weekend while teaming up with Ryan Sommer of White Rock, B.C., and Saskatoon’s Ben Coakwell to clock two third-place runs and secure the bronze with a time of one minute 37.29 seconds.
“There have not been too many times that we have been on the podium in both the two- and four-man races on the same weekend so I am really pumped with the crew,” said Kripps. “We had great starts today. I made a couple of mistakes on the second run, but it was enough to hang onto the podium, so I am really happy.”
The crew got the sled in motion with a solid 4.87 push in the second run, allowing the Olympic two-man champion to take control of the 16-corner track that spirals down the Bavarian Alps.
German sleds piloted by Francesco Friedrich (1:37.03) and Johannes Lochner (1:37.13) were first and second respectively.
It is the seventh World Cup four-man medal of Kripps’s career, and third this season for the Canadian crew.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 26, 2020.
The Canadian Press