Rookie Pilot Justin Kripps Drives Canada 3 Bobsleigh into Top-10 at World Cup

—Team Rush finishes 13th on tough day in Winterberg—

WINTERBERG, Ger.—World Cup rookie pilot, Justin drove just shy of his career-best four-man finish when he place 10th on Sunday in Winterberg, Germany.

The 25-year-old Kripps, of Summerland, B.C., and his crew of James McNaughton, of Newmarket, Ont., Sam Giguere, of Sherbrooke, Que., and Nick Carriere, of Rockland, Ont., clocked a time of 1:51.00. Kripps’ pervious best finish was ninth at a World Cup in Calgary last year.

“It was a great day for Kripps and his crew. He did a fantastic job today, and they had two really good starts,” said Tom Delahunty, head coach, Canadian Bobsleigh Team.

Heavy snow and windy conditions got the best of Lyndon Rush, of Humboldt, Sask., and his team of Ottawa’s Cody Sorensen, Jesse Lumsden, of Burlington, Ont., and Edmonton’s Neville Wright in the Canada 1 sled. The top Canucks placed 13th at 1:51.33.

Calgary’s Chris Spring and his crew did not qualify for the second run, placing 22nd.

“Outside of Kripps, the day was a bit of a disaster really,” said Delahunty. “The snow was blowing all over the place and it was just a disaster for us. We had a good day yesterday though so you have to take the bad with the good.”

The Russian team of Alexander Zubkov, Alexey Nedgodaylo, Dimitry Trunenkov, and Maxim Mokrousov remained unbeaten in four-man this year, winning their fourth straight race with a time of 1:50.6

Germany’s Maximillian Arndt, Alex Mann, Alexander Roediger and Martin Putze clocked a silver-medal time at 1:50.25, while Latvia’s Oskars Melbardis, Daumants Dreiskens, Arvis Vilkaste and Intars Dambis celebrated the bronze after posting a two-run time of 1:50.41.

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Complete Results: www.fibt.com

Top-Five Men’s Four-Man Bobsleigh Results:

1. Zubkov/Negodaylo/Trunenkov/Mokrousov, RUS 1,1:50.6; 2. Arndt/Mann/Roediger/Putze, GER 1, 1:50.25; 3.Melbardis/Dreiskens/Vilkaste/Dambis, LAT 1, 1:50.41; 4. Florschuetz/Bredau/Kuske/Blaschek, GER, 1:50.46; 5. Hefti/Baumann/Lamparter/Egger, SUI 2, 1:50.49

Canadian Results:

10. Kripps, Summerland, B.C./McNaughton, Newmarket, Ont./Giguere, Sherbrooke, Que./Carriere, Rockland, Ont., CAN 3, 1:51.00; 13. Rush, Humboldt, Sask./Sorensen, Ottawa/Brown, Calgary/Wright, Edmonton, CAN 1, 1:51.33; 22. Spring, Calgary/Demetre, New Glasgow, N.S./Rosenke, Edmonton/Coakwell, Saskatoon,  CAN 2, DNQ for second run.