Summerland’s Justin Kripps put in a solid performance in the World Cup Bobsleigh season opener in Calgary last weekend.
Kripps and teammates Tim Randall, James McNaughton and Graham Rinholm, all sporting full beards and being dubbed the Canadian Grizzlies by the announcers, thrilled the hometown crowd with a ninth-place finish in the four-man event in a field of the 22 best teams in the world.
This put all 3 Canadian teams in the top 10, a first for Canada and certainly a morale booster going into the Olympic season.
Canada 1 and 2 finished fourth and sixth.
Full results can be found at www.fibt.com
Team Kripps’ goal as Canada 3 is to be ahead of USA 3 and Russia 3. They achieved this and more on Saturday beating out USA 2 and 3, and Germany 3 as well.
Earlier in the two-man event, Kripps and brakeman Bryan Barnett started well, but a slight driving error proved costly and they finished a creditable 13th. They had hoped for a higher placing but were still ahead of Russia 3.
Now the bobsledders move on to Park City, Utah for the next World Cup event on Dec. 6 and 7. Times and live coverage can be found at www.fibt.com.
Kripps and teammate Jesse Lumsden have been receiving lots of attention in response to their recent video release which can be seen at youtube.com/watch?v=friF6s2z4cg.
More information on races and how you can support Justin on his quest for Sochi can be found at www.justinkripps.ca