Justin Kripps facts for kids
Kripps in 2019
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | Canadian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | January 6, 1987 Naalehu, Hawaii, U.S. |
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| Residence | Summerland, British Columbia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.83 m | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 100 kg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Bobsleigh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Two-man | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turned pro | 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Justin Kripps (born January 6, 1987) is a Canadian bobsledder. He is an Olympic champion in two-man bobsleigh. He won a gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Kripps also won a silver medal in the two-man event at the 2017 World Championships. He earned a bronze medal in the mixed team event at the 2012 World Championships. He has been competing in bobsleigh since 2006. He has achieved many podium finishes in the World Cup series. In the 2017–18 Bobsleigh World Cup season, he finished first in both the two-man and overall standings. This earned him the Crystal Globe as the overall champion.
Contents
Justin Kripps' Bobsleigh Journey
Justin Kripps started bobsledding in 2006. He was 19 years old when he joined a testing camp. Before bobsleigh, he was an athlete at Simon Fraser University. There, he was part of a 4 × 100 meter relay team. They earned All-American honors and set a school record in 2005. Kripps saw bobsleigh as a mix of track and field and race car driving. This made him interested in the sport.
Early Years as a Brakeman
In his first years, Kripps competed as a brakeman. A brakeman helps push the bobsled at the start. They also pull the brake at the end. In January 2008, Kripps won his first Bobsleigh World Cup race. This was in the four-man event in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. He was with teammates Pierre Lueders, Ken Kotyk, and David Bissett.
Kripps and Lueders were the first people to slide down the Whistler Sliding Centre in British Columbia. This happened in 2007. They later competed together in the four-man event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Becoming a Bobsled Driver
After the 2010 Olympics, Kripps decided to become a driver. The driver steers the bobsled. He went to pilot school in the summer of 2010. For the 2010–11 season, he competed on the North American developmental circuit. He also took part in the 2011 World Junior Championships. There, he placed fifth in the two-man and eighth in the four-man races.
The next season, he competed on the Europa Cup circuit. His first Bobsleigh World Cup event as a pilot was in February 2012 at Whistler. His first World Championships as a pilot was also in 2012. He won a bronze medal in the mixed team event.
Kripps earned his first World Cup podium as a driver in 2014. He won a gold medal at Königssee. During the 2014 Winter Olympics, he was the top Canadian finisher in the two-man event. He placed sixth, pushed by Bryan Barnett. He then moved to the top sled for the four-man event. However, his sled overturned in the second run, and he did not qualify for the final.
Olympic and World Championship Success
During the 2016–17 Bobsleigh World Cup season, Kripps reached the podium three more times. At the 2017 World Championships, he won a silver medal. He was pushed by Jesse Lumsden.
For the 2017–18 Bobsleigh World Cup season, Kripps had an amazing year. With Lumsden and new push partner Alexander Kopacz, he finished first in both the two-man and overall standings. This meant he won the Crystal Globe in both categories.
Olympic Gold Medal in 2018
At the 2018 Winter Olympics, Kripps and brakeman Kopacz made history. They tied for the gold medal with the German team. The German team included Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis. This was Canada's sixth gold medal at those games. Kripps was leading after three runs. In the final run, he finished with the exact same time as Friedrich.
After the race, Kripps shared his thoughts. He said he stayed calm and focused on his runs. He had been working on his mental game since he started driving. He also mentioned that Pierre Lueders taught him how to drive. Lueders had also tied for a gold medal 20 years earlier. Kripps called it an "amazing race."
Bronze Medal and Retirement
In January 2022, Kripps was chosen for Canada's 2022 Olympic team. He went on to win the bronze medal in the Four-man event. On August 25, 2022, Justin Kripps announced that he was retiring from the sport.
See also
In Spanish: Justin Kripps para niños
