Canada ties Germany for Olympic bobsled championship
History repeated itself for Canada in the two-man bobsled event at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Canadian Justin Kripps tied Germany’s Francesco Friedrich for gold Monday. The native of Summerland and brakeman Alex Kopacz of London, Ont., slid to a combined four-run time of three minutes 16.86 seconds.
“When I crossed that line, and I managed to actually see the clock that said No. 1 – it’s pretty tough to see when you’re ripping up the braking stretch – but just so excited and everybody started mobbing into the track,” Kripps said. “I saw the Germans and they were super excited, too. I was like, ‘Man, that’s nice. They’re really excited that we won.’
“We’re all good friends. Once the mob kind of dispersed a little bit Thorsten was giving me a hug, he was in my ear and he was like, ‘It was three hundredths and two and then we tied.’ I was like, ‘We tied?’ It’s insane. Amazing.”
Kripps joins Pierre Lueders, who took gold at the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan, – also in a tie – as the only Canadian men to top an Olympic podium in two-man. Lueders also won two-man silver at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy, for the country’s other medal in the discipline.
Latvia’s Oskars Melbardis and Janis Strenga won bronze in 3:16.91.
Hamilton’s Nick Poloniato and brakeman Jesse Lums- den – the former CFL running back from Burlington, Ont. – were seventh in 3:17.74. Australian-born Chris Spring of Priddis, Alta., and Lascelles Brown of Calgary were 10th in 3:18.24.
The medal was Canada’s 17th of the Games (six gold, five silver, six bronze), leaving the team third in the overall standings.
The Canadian women’s hockey team earned a 5-0 semifinal win over the Olympic Athletes from Russia to set up yet another gold-medal showdown with the United States.
Since women’s hockey made its Olympic debut in 1998, Canada and the U.S. have met in every final except 2006 when the Americans were upset by Sweden in the semifinal. The Canadians will look to extend their gold-medal run to five straight.
Jennifer Wakefield led Canada with two goals. Captain Marie-Philip Poulin, Emily Clark and Rebecca Johnston also scored while Shannon Szabados stopped 14 shots for the shutout and her second win of the tournament.
The Americans advanced with a 5-0 victory over Finland. In women’s curling, Rachel Homan pulled her rink into playoff contention with an 8-3 win over Japan. Homan has won three straight after beginning the tournament with three losses.
The win put Canada into a tie for fourth with China and Britain at 3-3. Next up, Homan and her rink play will face China.