Team Canada has won three World Cup bobsled bronze medals in Innsbruck, Austria this past weekend. On Saturday, Canadian Olympic gold medalist Justin Kripps of Summerland, British Columbia won the bronze medal in the men’s two-man with Cam Stones of Oshawa, Ontario. Then on Sunday, Kripps and Stones teamed up with Ryan Sommer of White Rock, British Columbia, and Ben Coakwell of Regina, Saskatchewan to win bronze in the four-man. Also on Sunday, Christine De Bruin of Edmonton, Alberta and Kristen Bujnowski of London, Ontario won bronze in the two-woman bobsled event.
In the two-man, Kripps and Stones had a third place time of 1:43.96. Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis of Germany won the gold medal with a time of 1:43.48. Johannes Lochner and Christian Rasp of Germany won the silver medal with a time of 1:43.84. Kripps and Stones reached the podium by 0.14 seconds over Rostislav Gaitiukevich and Mikhail Mordasov of Russia, who had a fourth place time of 1:44.10. Kripps is in third place among drivers in the World Cup two-man standings with 392 points. Friedrich leads with 450 points and Lochner is in second with 420 points.
In the four-man, Canada posted a time of 1:42.15, to beat a Russian team driven by Gaituikevich by two one-hundredths of a second. Russia finished in fourth with a time of 1:42.17. A German sled driven by Friedrich won the gold medal with a time of 1:41.82. A Latvian sled driven by Oskars Kibermanis won the silver medal with a time of 1:42.10. In the World Cup four-man standings, Kripps is in fourth place with 376 points. Friedrich leads with 450 points.
In the two-woman bobsled, De Bruin and Bujnowski posted a third place time of 1:46.86 to prevent a German sweep. Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi of Germany won the gold medal with a time of 1:46.71. Kim Kalicki and Leonie Fiebig of Germany won the silver medal with a time of 1:46.77. De Bruin and Bujnowski reached the podium by 0.19 seconds over Mariama Jamanka and Alexandra Burghardt of Germany, who had a fourth place time of 1:47.05. De Bruin is in third place among drivers in the two-woman World Cup standings with 400 points. Nolte leads with 450 points and Kalicki is in second with 420 points.
Kripps won his gold medal at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang alongside Alexander Kopacz of London, Ontario. The bronze medals for Kripps, Stones, Sommer, Coakwell, De Bruin and Bujnowski in Innsbruck will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
