Kripps cruises to bobsleigh gold in Germany on his birthday
Canadian sits 1st in World Cup standings with 1239 points
Justin Kripps and Alexander Kopacz slid to a gold medal on Saturday at a World Cup event in Altenberg, Germany.
The gold medal was the first of the season for Kripps, who has finished with silver three times already this season. He also registered 5.11 seconds to break a 14-year-old track start record. Overall, Kripps clocked a two-run time of one minute, 49.21 seconds — and he did all of it on his 31st birthday.
"Things are definitely rolling," Kripps said. "To win here in Altenberg on such a tough track is just awesome. Everything is coming together. I have more experience driving now. I went out and got the exact equipment and runners that I wanted, which is making a big difference."
"We showed up and pushed today," Kopacz said. "We reviewed the first push and identified one minor mistake and we nailed it on the second run. When things are going good it feels effortless. It is unbelievable. I'm just over the moon right now.
"We have been training hard and I felt it was a matter of time until things paid off. We are heading in the right direction and it is a lot of fun right now."
Germany secured the final two spots on the podium, with the duo of Francesco Friedrich and Martin Grothkopp grabbing silver at 0.09 seconds back, and Nico Walther and Christian Poser taking bronze at 0.27 seconds.
Canadians Nick Poloniato and Neville Wright finished fifth with a time of 1:49.80 (0.59 seconds back), and Chris Spring and Jesse Lumsden placed 13th.
What a birthday present for <a href="https://twitter.com/justinkripps?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@justinkripps</a> !<br>First gold in this season, with <a href="https://twitter.com/Kopacz77?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Kopacz77</a> !<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BMWworldcup?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BMWworldcup</a> in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Altenberg?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Altenberg</a> <a href="https://t.co/JYCbeYDJHg">pic.twitter.com/JYCbeYDJHg</a>
—@IBSFslidingKripps stayed atop the World Cup standings with 1239 points. Spring is second at 1091, followed by Friedrich at 1069.
Canada's Kaillie Humphries and Phylicia George scored women's bobsleigh gold earlier in the day.
You can also catch more bobsleigh action Sunday morning on CBCSports.ca.