Canada’s Team Kripps Slides Shy of Four-Man Bobsleigh Podium in Fifth

Nick Poloniato pilots his rookie crew to 17th place

KONIGSSEE, Ger.—One day removed from winning his second-straight two-man silver medal on the World Cup, Justin Kripps piloted his crew to a season-best four-man result, finishing fifth in Konigssee, Germany on Sunday.

The Olympic two-man champion from Summerland, B.C. and his all-Canadian crew of Ryan Sommer (Calgary), Ben Coakwell (Saskatoon) and Cam Stones (Whitby, Ont.) rocketed to a fifth-place combined time of 1:38.61 down the 16-corner track.

“That was much better today than last week in Altenberg. My driving was much better here in Konigssee,” said Kripps.

Kripps’ newly-formed four-man crew posted top-5 start times in both heats. The team sat in seventh spot after its first descent down the 1,675 metre chute in the Bavarian Alps. A strong push and better drive in the final heat jumped the Canucks two spots up the standings.

“I’m happy with a fifth place, but I don’t like to be so far behind the race leaders. In four-man especially, being more than eight-tenths of a second behind the top sleds is too far back,” said Kripps. “I think we need to change some equipment setups to really be competitive in the four-man.”

Germany’s Johannes Lochner, Christian Rasp, Marc Rademacher and Florian Bauer were the top sled in both runs, finishing with a golden time of 1:37.74.

Latvia’s Oskars Kibermanis, Matiss Miknis, Janis Strenga and Arvis Vilkaste slid to the silver at 1:37.92. Germany’s Francesco Friedrich, Martin Grothkopp, Alexander Schueller and Candy Bauer claimed the bronze at 1:37.96.

Canada’s only other sled in the four-man competition was piloted by Olympian Nick Poloniato. The Hamilton native teamed up with William Auclair (Quebec City), Dexter Janke (Edmonton), and Keefer Joyce (Kelowna, B.C.) to post the 17th-fastest combined time at 1:39.32.

Complete Four-Man Results: https://www.ibsf.org/en/component/events/event/193054

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