Ben Coakwell’s hopes for a medal in his third Olympics are no longer a dream, they’re a very, very real possibility after the first day of competition in the four-man bobsleigh at the Beijing Games.
The Moose Jaw product joined driver Justin Kripps, Cam Stones and Ryan Sommer to put down the third-fastest first two runs at the Yangqing National Sliding Centre on Friday night, meaning that if Canada can maintain that position, they’ll come home with the bronze medal.
Kripps recorded a time of 58.38 seconds in his first heat to sit 0.25 seconds back of leaders Johannes Lochner (58.13) and Francesco Freidrich (58.29) of Germany. Just as importantly, they gave themselves a decent lead over fourth-place Rostislav Gaitiukevich of the ROC, who crossed in 58.54.
The second heat wasn’t quite as quick, as Kripps was unable to carry as much speed into the second interval -- 121.4 km/h in his first run compared to 119.6 in his second -- and they finished with the fifth-fastest time of the heat in 59.00.
Kripps’ 1:57.38 total puts Canada 0.38 seconds back of Freidrich for gold and 0.35 seconds behind Lochner for silver. Germany’s Christoph Hafer is fourth, 0.17 seconds back of Kripps.
Coakwell joined driver Nick Poloniato to finish 12th in the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics after a 27th-place showing in the Sochi Games that saw the Kripps sled crash in the second heat.
You can watch Coakwell, Kripps and crew go for the medals when the final runs take place this evening, with the third run beginning at 7:30 p.m. and medal runs commencing at 9:20 p.m.
