Skip to content

Justin Kripps and Jesse Lumsden slide to fourth in two-man race

Canadians celebrate bittersweet day sliding to fourth in world cup bobsleigh
10178589_web1_180118-sum-s-kripps-1-web
Summerland’s Justin Kripps finished off the podium in the two-man bobsleigh in St. Moritz Saturday. (Submitted photo)

After solid performances last weekend in Altenberg, Canadian two-man bobsleigh teams ended up sliding just short of podium finishes at a World Cup event in St. Moritz.

Justin Kripps, who hails from Summerland, welcomed Jesse Lumsden (Burlington, Ont.) into the sled where they led all three Canadian teams into the top 10.

The silver medallists at last year’s World Championships enjoyed their best-ever finish in St. Moritz, placing fourth with a two-run time of 2:11.12.

“I’m pretty happy with the race today, by far my best result here,” said Kripps, who is the overall World Cup leader in the two-man standings thanks to his four podium finishes.

“I haven’t made the cut (with the top 20 for the second run) here the last three years so it was nice to break the curse. The Germans were flying today and we just couldn’t get the speed they were getting.”

Just chillin in st. moritz #sliding2pc18 #RBC #B2Ten @canfund #teamcanada

Posted by Justin Kripps on Friday, January 12, 2018

The Germans swept the two-man podium. Nico Walther and Christian Poser grabbed the gold after posting the top time in the final heat to win with a combined time of 2:10.72. Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis were second at 2:10.77, while Johannes Lochner and Christopher Weber passed the Canucks in the final heat to snag the bronze at 2:10.93.

The other two Canadian sleds also found their way into the top-10 in St. Moritz. Calgary’s Chris Spring and Edmonton’s Neville Wright clocked-in at 2:11.54 for seventh place.

Nick Poloniato (Hamilton) wasn’t able to capitalize on top push times propelled by Calgary’s Lascelles Brown. The Canadian duo did, however, finish solid in eighth spot with a combined time of 2:11.72.