Team Kripps Edged off Four-Man Bobsleigh Podium in Fourth at World Cup in Altenberg

ALTENBERG, Ger.—Team Kripps slid just short of winning medals in back-to-back days, finishing fourth in the four-man bobsleigh race at a World Cup in Altenberg, Germany.

Kripps, of Summerland, B.C., along with his high-powered crew of Jesse Lumsden (Burlington, Ont.), Alex Kopacz (London, Ont.), and Seyi Smith (Ottawa) .35 seconds short of the podium on the 1,413-metre track Sunday, clocking a two-run time of 1:49.14.

“The boys pushed really well today and helped us manage a decent result,” said the 31-year-old Kripps. “Altenberg can be tricky for four-man. I had some mistakes at the top of the track, and one at the bottom as well in my fist run.”

Despite the fastest start time in the opening heat, the errors had the top Canadian sled well back in seventh place after their first rip down one of the most challenging tracks in the world.

Kripps, who won his second-career two-man gold on Saturday and has two four-man podiums this year, pulled it together in the final heat. Leveraging another top start time, the two-time Olympian posted the second-fastest down time to move into fourth place.

“I was able to hit my lines in the second run, and moved up a few spots so I was happy with that,” added Kripps. “It was super foggy out there today, so overall, I’m happy to get to the bottom without any major problems.”

The Germans grabbed the top-two spots on the podium. Nico Walther, Kevin Kuske, Christian Poser and Eric Franke won with a time of 1:48.79. Francesco Friedrich, Candy Bauer, Martin Grothkopp and Thorsten Margis slid to the silver at 1:48.84.

Latvia’s Oskars Kibermanis piloted his crew of Janis Jansons, Matiss Miknis and Intars Dambis to third place with a time of 1:49.03.

Chris Spring (Calgary), Cam Stones (Whitby, Ont.), Josh Kirkpatrick (London, Ont.), and Neville Wright (Edmonton) slid to 13th place at 1:49.84. Nick Poloniato (Hamilton), Sam Giguere (Sherbrooke, Que.), Derek Plug (Calgary), and Ben Coakwell (Saskatoon) were 20th (1:52.17).

Bobsleigh CANADA Skeleton is a non-profit organization and the national governing body for the sports of bobsleigh and skeleton in Canada. With the support of its valued corporate partners – Karbon, Driving Force, Calgary Stampede and Conceptum Sport Logistics – along with the Government of Canada, Own the Podium and the Canadian Olympic Committee. Bobsleigh CANADA Skeleton develops Olympic and world champions. Please visit us at www.bobsleighcanadaskeleton.ca.

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