Valley’s Kripps, Sommer forge bobsleigh bronze
Justin Kripps and his Canadian crew locked up third place in the overall
World Cup four-man standings for the second straight year after sliding to the bronze medal Sunday in Igls, Austria. The Summerland native teamed up with Ryan Sommer (Kelowna), and Olympic teammates Cam Stones (Whitby, Ont.) and Ben Coakwell (Saskatoon) to clock a third-place time of 1:42.47.
“We are really happy to get a medal and especially happy to get the bronze Crystal Globe,” said Kripps, 34.
The Canadian crew captured a silver and two bronze medals in four starts in a condensed season this year due to the COVID pandemic.
“We didn’t set any overall goals this year. We always want to be hunting down the podium but with COVID situations this year, it was all about building some momentum and seeing what we need to work on,” added Kripps. “We’ve absolutely accomplished that goal, and we’re feeling great heading into the World Championships.”
It was the 11th career four-man podium of Kripps’ career.
Chris Spring (Calgary), Mike Evelyn (Ottawa), Mark Mlakar (Ottawa) and Chris Patrician (Toronto) finished 16th at 1:43.47.