Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton —Team Spring finishes 18th in four-man racing

KONIGSSEE, Ger.—Justin Kripps’ four-man crew was not able to take advantage of a track he grabbed his first two World Cup medals on, finishing 10th in the season finale in Konigssee, Germany on Sunday.

Kripps (Summerland, B.C.), and his crew of Alex Kopacz (London, Ont.), Josh Kirkpatrick (Calgary) and Ben Coakwell (Saskatoon) joined forces to post a time of 1:39.35 on the 16-corner track.

“We had decent pushes today but our loads were a little off with the timing and that cost us a bit,” said Kripps. “It was a decent day to end the season. We didn’t get the results we wanted, but this was my highest ranking of my career.”

Team Kripps, who won their first career four-man medal earlier this year when they were third in Lake Placid, finished sixth overall in four-man racing this year which also included a fourth-place finish on their home track in Whistler.

“Our results were really reflective of our pushing. When we pushed (off the start) we did well, and when we didn’t we finished back in the standings,” added Kripps. “We have the athletes in the program. We have all the pieces. We just need to get it all working together. 

“I am happy to finish seventh (two-man) and sixth (four-man). overall. It means I am driving both of them consistently. We just need to fix the pushes a bit. We are definitely going in the right direction.”

Kripps’ only other two career World Cup medals came in Konigssee – both in the two-man discipline.

“I feel confident on all the tracks we race, but I just have a good feeling here (Konigssee),” said Kripps earlier in the year. “I am able to blast out of those S curves with lots of speed and you need to do that to be successful here. It is a relatively short track so if you drive those S curves well you can be good here. I just seem to have good rhythm and carry my speed to the bottom.”

Germany’s Maximilian Arndt, Martin Putze, Alexander Roediger and Kevin Kuske captured the Overall World Cup four-man title and the final gold medal of the season with a time of 1:38.15. Austria’s Benjamin Maier, Marco Rangl, Markus Sammer and Danut Ion Moldovan teamed up for the silver medal at 1:38.28. Germany’s other sled, which included Franceso Friedrich, Candy Bauer, Martin Grothkopp and Thorsten Margis stopped the clock at 1:38.39 to win the bronze.

Canada’s other sled piloted by Calgary’s Chris Spring had a tough outing in 18th spot. Spring and his team of Cam Stones (Whitby, Ont.) Derek Plug (Calgary) and Sam Giguere (Sherbrooke, Que.) posted a combined time of 1:40.16.

Bobsleigh CANADA Skeleton is a non-profit organization and the national governing body for the sports of bobsleigh and skeleton in Canada. With the support of its valued corporate partners –– BMW Canada, Conceptum Sport Logistics – along with the Government of Canada, and Own the Podium. Bobsleigh CANADA Skeleton develops Olympic and world champions. Please visit us at www.bobsleighcanadaskeleton.ca.  

Complete Four-Man Results: http://www.ibsf.org/en/component/events/event/166201

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Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton

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