Poor start keeps Kripps, Canadian teammates off 4-man bobsleigh podium in Germany | CBC Sports

Brad Hall drove to second place for Britain, and Hunter Church of the United States matched the best finish of his World Cup four-man career by placing third.

A poor start in the second run by Kripps, Cam Stones, Ryan Sommer and Ben Coakwell resulted in a missed podium finish and fifth-place standing.

Friedrich and his team of Alexander Schueller, Candy Bauer and Thorsten Margis had the best time in both heats Sunday, finishing in a combined one minute 49.08 seconds. Hall and Nick Gleeson, Taylor Lawrence and Greg Cackett were second in 1:49.50.

Church and his team of Josh Williamson, Charlie Volker and Kris Horn were fifth after the first heat. But they had the best start of any team in the second run, using that momentum to climb two spots and finish third in 1:49.54.

Kaillie Humphries earns bronze

Church’s second-run time was 54.78 seconds, just one-tenth of a second behind Friedrich’s time. That’s the closest Church has even been to Friedrich in a four-man event, spanning 41 heats in World Cup and world championships competition.

Germany took gold and silver in a women’s race Sunday, with the team of Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi holding off Kim Kalicki and Leonie Fiebig.

Nolte finished in 1:57.15. Kalicki’s time was 1:57.28 and the U.S. grabbed third, with the team of Kaillie Humphries and Sylvia Hoffman finishing in 1:57.30.

Elana Meyers Taylor and Kaysha Love were fourth for the U.S. in 1:57.55.

Christine de Bruin of Stony Plain, Alta., and Kristen Bujnowski of Mount Brydges, Ont., finished fifth (1:57.73).

The World Cup seasons for bobsled and skeleton conclude this coming weekend in St. Moritz, Switzerland.