Bobsleigh athletes Justin Kripps and Jesse Lumsden missed a podium finish in the two-man bobsleigh race at the BMW IBSF World Cup opener in Whistler on Friday evening.
The two were in third place after the opening blast down the 1,450-metre track, but they slipped to tie for fourth place after their second run with a combined time of 1:44.73.
“We executed the way we wanted to on the track today, but we were hoping for a better result. I felt we did what we needed to do to get the job done , but unfortunately it translated into fourth place,” Kripps said.
“That’s racing and the way it goes sometimes. We are going to head back into the garage and try and find some speed on the sleds.”
It was the first World Cup race for Kripps, 29, of Summerland, with Lumsden providing the manpower.
Lumsden, of Burlington, Ont., returned to the program this fall after a two-year hiatus to begin his transition into the business world.
“I am happy to back, but I am personally very disappointed with my performance,” said Lumsden, 34.
“I need to be better behind the sled for Justin. I am a couple of years older so maybe I just needed to shake the rust off a bit. I know what I need to do and we will keep getting better. I’ll be ready tomorrow.”
Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis of Germany won the first World Cup two-man bobsleigh race of the season with a time of 1:44.21.
Switzerland’s Rico Peter and Thomas Amrhein slid to the silver medal at 1:44.67, while Korea’s Yunjong Won and Youngwoo Seo clocked a bronze-medal time of 1:44.69.
The defending champions of the two-man race in Whistler from one year ago, Chris Spring and Lascelles Brown of Calgary, finished with a time of 1:45.07, ending in 10th place.
World Cup rookie Nick Poloniato, of Hamilton, teamed up with Calgary’s Derek Plug to finish in 14th place at 1:45.39.
