Germany sweeps podium in 4-man bobsleigh at World Cup event
Kripps pilots Canada to 12th place
Francesco Friedrich led a German sweep of the podium for the second time in the second four-man bobsled World Cup meet of the season Sunday in Winterberg, Germany.
Pushed by Martin Putze, Jannis Baecker and Thorsten Margis, the two-man world champion posted runs of 55.35 and 55.23 seconds for a combined time of 1:50.58 to edge Maximilian Arndt's team by 0.05 seconds.
Arndt, the four-man world champion, pushed by Kevin Kuske, Alexander Roediger and Ben Heber, clocked the fastest first run in 55.28 but a second of 55.35 for a combined 1:50.63, which allowed Friedrich to snatch his second four-man victory. Friedrich also made it two-from-two in the two-man race Saturday.
Nico Walther, pushed by Marko Huebenbecker, Christian Poser and Philipp Wobeto, was third, 0.16 seconds behind. Walther was second ahead of Arndt in Altenberg last week.
Canada's four-man crew piloted by Justin Kripps slid into 12th.
Kripps, from Summerland, B.C., piloted his new crew of Ben Coakwell (Saskatoon), Alex Kopacz (London, Ont.), and Josh Kirkpatrick (Calgary) to a time of 1:53.45 on the 14-corner track.