Team Kripps Bobsleds to Back-to-Back Bronze at Lake Placid World Cup

LAKE PLACID, N.Y.—New day, new brakeman, exact same result for Justin Kripps who piloted the lone Canadian sled to the bronze medal step of the podium for the second-straight day at the Bobsleigh World Cup in Lake Placid, New York.

The 32-year-old Olympic champion, who was third in Saturday’s two-man race with Ben Coakwell, reunited with Cam Stones (Whitby, Ont.) – his medal-winning partner at the 2019 World Championships – to post a two-run time of 1:50.34.

“It was a good day. I think the first start we had a bit of a head wind because we were quite slow and it wasn’t what I expected so we had to play some catch up,” said Kripps, who like on Saturday, was in fifth place after his first blast down Mount Van Hoevenberg.

“Yesterday I didn’t think I had a great draw, and it was actually the same thing today. But the luck of the draw is how it goes so I just focused on being consistent.”

Building on Saturday’s experience, the Canadians dug deep at the start of the 1,680 metre track where they put down the fourth-fastest start, and third-quickest down time in the final heat to grab a spot on the podium. It was the fifth-straight two-man podium in Lake Placid for Kripps (Summerland, B.C.).

“I really like this track. It’s a track where the driving is really important and you can make up, or lose, a lot of time down the track,” said Kripps. “It gives us an opportunity to show what we can do on the D rings. The key here is to just stay consistent and let others make mistakes.”

Germany’s Friedrich Franceso, who shared the top of the Olympic podium with Kripps, won the second race of the season with Alexander Schueller on the brakes. The top German sled clocked a time of 1:49.77.

Johannes Lochner and Christian Rasp, also of German, were third at 1:50.00

The top men’s bobsleigh athletes competed in back-to-back two-man races in Lake Placid to open the World Cup season following the cancellation of the Park City race which was previously scheduled for last weekend. Lake Placid will host a second-straight World Cup next weekend where two, four-man races will be held.

Earlier in the day, Canada’s Kevin Boyer finished 17th in men’s skeleton. The Sherwood Park, Alta. native posted a time of 1:47.87. Calgary’s Kyle Murray did not qualify for a second run with the top-20 athletes, finishing 24th.

Germany’s Axel Jungk was quickest on the day, stopping the clock at 1:46.32 over two runs.

Men’s Two-Man Bobsleigh Results: https://www.ibsf.org/en/component/events/event/500194

Men’s Skeleton Results: https://www.ibsf.org/en/component/events/event/500200

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