Justin Kripps and Cam Stones win bobsleigh World Cup silver in Switzerland
Canadian Olympic gold medalist Justin Kripps of Summerland, British Columbia, and brakeman Cameron Stones of Oshawa, Ontario won a silver medal in the men’s World Cup in St. Moritz, Switzerland on Saturday. It was one of two medals won by Canadian bobsledders on Saturday when Cynthia Appiah of Toronto, Ontario won the bronze medal in women’s monobob. The medals are significant because it was the final Bobsleigh World Cup event of the 2021/22 season and came three weeks before the start of the season Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
Kripps and Stones clocked a time of 2:11.95. They reached the podium 0.26 seconds ahead of the Russian duo of Rostislav Gaitiukevich and Mikhail Mordasov of Russia, who posted a fourth place time of 2:12.21. Francesco Friedrich and Margis Thorsten of Germany won the gold medal with a time of 2:11.76. Johannes Lochner and Florian Bauer of Germany won the bronze medal with a time of 2:12.12.
In the World Cup bobsleigh ranking, Friedrich finished with 1703 points, Kripps was second with 1530 points. Kripps will be fighting for his second consecutive Olympic medal in Beijing as he won gold in 2-man bobsleigh Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics alongside Alex Kopacz from London, Ontario.
In women’s monobob, Appiah had a time of 2:23.22. She reached the podium two hundredths of a second ahead of Mariama Jamanka of Germany who had a time of 2:23.24. Kaillie Humphries of the United States won gold with a time of 2:22.27 and Elana Meyers Taylor of the United States won the silver medal with a time of 2:22.31.
Appiah finished the World Cup standings with 1012 points and in third place. Meyers Taylor had the most points with 1110, followed by Humphries with 1052 points. At the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, the women’s monobobsleigh will take place on February 12th and 13th at 7:30 p.m. MT, while the two-man bobsleigh will be held on February 14th and 15th at 6 a.m.