Canada's Justin Kripps steers 4-man bobsleigh crew to bronze medal

Given the widespread German bobsleigh dominance at the Beijing Olympics, it was going to be a tall order for Canada's Justin Kripps to land on the four-man podium.

But the Summerland, B.C., native did just that — with just sixth one-hundredths of a second to spare — on Sunday in China.

Kripps and his crew of Ryan Sommer, Cam Stones and Benjamin Coakwell earned bronze in three minutes 55.09 seconds, barely holding off fourth-place German Christoph Hafer.

"Absolutely huge. I'm at a loss for words. The boys did amazing and we couldn't be happier," Kripps, 35, told CBC's Marivel Taruc after the race.

WATCH | Canada speeds to bronze in 4-man bobsleigh:

Germany still grabbed the top two spots on the podium, with Francesco Friedrich winning gold (3:54.30) and Johannes Lochner scoring silver (3:54.67). 

Kripps' medal is Canada's 26th and final of the Beijing Olympics, tying for the second-most Canadians have ever produced at a Winter Games. However, that number also included 14 gold medals when it was first achieved at Vancouver 2010. Canada claimed just four titles in Beijing, to go with eight silver and 14 bronze.

The all-time Canadian record was set at 29 (11 gold, eight silver, 10 bronze) at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.

Kripps held a slight lead of 0.08 seconds on Hafer entering the fourth and final heat of the event. 

"We knew it was going to be a really tough race given how fast the Germans have been here the whole two weeks," Kripps said.

Sliding just ahead of Kripps, the German sled posted its slowest time of four, leaving a tiny margin of error for the Canadians.

They used all of it. At one point toward the end of their race, the Canadians were outpacing Hafer by 0.01 seconds, meaning they'd need a nearly perfect finish to prevent a German sweep of all six men's bobsleigh medals in Beijing.

"I made one mistake in the middle of the track and I knew it was going to be pretty close after that, but managed to nail the bottom and gain that time back," Kripps said.

When they saw green on the clock as they crossed the finish line, they knew there'd be medals around their necks.

"It's no different than Michael Jordan hitting a game-winning shot with the seconds dying," Coakwell told The Canadian Press. "That's what [Kripps] did today."

It was Canada's second bobsleigh medal of the Games. Christine de Bruin of Stony Plain, Alta., won bronze in the monobob.

It's also the second podium appearance of Kripps' career after he tied Friedrich for two-man gold in Pyeongchang. 

He told CBC Sports in the lead-up to these Olympics that one of his goals was to add a four-man medal to his resumé.

"I came into these Games with an Olympic medal already, and this team that has just been grinding for four years, been together for four years, and for it to culminate in an Olympic medal is just amazing," Kripps said.

A bond was forged between the friendly rivals after standing together atop the podium. Friedrich, along with brakeman Thorsten Margis, is scheduled to attend the Kripps' California wedding in April.

"It was just such a special moment and we carried that on into the next season and became friends. And yeah, it's pretty cool to have that kind of friendship and history with someone on tour," Kripps told CBC Sports in the lead-up to the Olympics.

Kripps admitted that beating Friedrich — who won seven of eight World Cup races this season — would be a challenge, though he hoped the new track at the Yanqing Sliding Center would be something of an equalizer.

It didn't quite work out that way, as Friedrich simply asserted his dominance, but the two still stood on the same podium once again.

Friedrich, Lochner and Hafer swept the two-man podium as Germany grabbed 16 sliding medals. The rest of the world combined for 14, including just one gold.

Canada's Christopher Spring, of Priddis, Alta., meanwhile, guided his sled to ninth in the four-man at 3:56.99. Another Canadian sled piloted by Taylor Austin of Lethbridge, Alta., did not make the 20-team cut for the final heat.

Sommer's fiancée, Blayre Turnbull, will also return home from Beijing with a medal after helping the Canadian women's hockey team win gold.

"Coolest moment of the Olympics for me," Turnbull wrote on Instagram of Sommer's bronze.

Ahead of these Games, Kripps said the biggest difference for him from 2018 was that he now knew what it took to win an Olympic medal.

"Show up to the start line at the Games, knowing that you've done everything you possibly could to give yourself the best chance you can have in the race," he told CBC Sports.

On Sunday, it came down to fractions of a second.

And when they needed it, Kripps and crew had enough.

WATCH | Full replay of 4th heat: