It was a glorious weekend for Canadian bobsled pilot Justin Kripps of Summerland, British Columbia. Kripps, a Canadian Olympic gold medalist in the two man from the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, won the first two four-man bobsled World Cups of the 2019-20 season in Lake Placid, New York. Kripps won alongside Ben Coakwell of Regina, Saskatchewan, Cameron Stones of Oshawa, Ontario and Ryan Sommer of Calgary, Alberta. Team Canada won a third medal in Lake Placid this weekend as Christine De Bruin of Edmonton, Alberta and Kristen Bujnowski of London, Ontario won bronze in the women’s bobsled competition.
In the first four-man bobsled World Cup on Saturday, Canada had a winning time of 1:49.50. They reached the podium by six tenths of a second as a German sled piloted by Johannes Lochner finished fourth with a time of 1:50.10. Latvia’s Oskars Kibermanis won the silver medal with a time of 1:49.89 and Austria’s Benjamin Maier won the bronze medal with a time of 1:49.97.
In the second four-man bobsled World Cup on Sunday, Canada had a winning time of 1:49.45. They reached the podium by 0.35 seconds as Kibermanis finished in fourth place with a time of 1:49.80. Lochner finished second with a time of 1:49.75, while the German sled piloted by Francesco Friedrich won the bronze medal with a time of 1:49.78.
In the World Cup men’s four man standings, Kripps leads with 450 points. He has 48 more points than Lochner and Kibermanis, who are tied for second with 402 points.
In women’s bobsled on Saturday, De Bruin and Bujnowski had a time of 1:54.25. They reached the podium by five one hundredths of a second as Stephanie Schneider and Leonie Fiebig of Germany finished in fourth place with a time of 1:54.30. Kaillie Humphries and Lauren Gibbs of the United States won the gold medal with a time of 1:54.03 and Kim Kalicki and Erline Nolte of Germany won the silver medal with a time of 1:54.18.
De Bruin is in fourth place in the women’s bobsled World Cup standings with 384 points. Humphries leads with 450 points. The medals for Kripps, Coakwell, Stones, Sommer, De Bruin and Bujnowski will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing
