Kripps secures maiden overall bobsleigh World Cup crown with podium finish in Koenigssee
BySportsbeat
Updated 20/01/2018 at 15:56 GMT
Canada's Justin Kripps usurped German domination in dramatic style after claiming his first World Cup title with another consistent display in Koenigssee.
Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse of Canada team 1 make a run during the Women's Bobsleigh on Day 12 of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics
Image credit: Getty Images
Home favourite Francesco Friedrich took the final race win but he couldn't do anything to stop Kripps taking the overall title from under his nose.
The Canadian has not finished lower than fourth in any race of the World Cup season, with this his second victory after success in Altenberg.
And his third place this time around meant top honours came his way, despite having sat fourth at the halfway stage.
An excellent second run saw them overtake Nicol Walther and Kevin Kuske at the last, preventing Germany from sweeping the podium for the second week in succession.
That means Kripps finishes the World Cup season with a tally of 1,631, more than 100 ahead of Friedrich, with another Canadian in Chris Spring rounding off the top three.
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Friedrich had been forced to settle for second place in three of his last four outings but, alongside Thorsten Margis, was not to be denied the gold medal on his home ice.
The current World Cup champion stopped the clock in 49.57 seconds in his first run to take the halfway lead, going quicker in the second for a total time of 1:38.97.
That proved to be four tenths quicker than Johannes Lochner and Christopher Weber's sled, still doing enough to take second place in Germany, ahead of Kripps.
British hopes rested with Brad Hall and Sam Blanchet in their first outing together, starting well with their first run clocking in at 50.05s.
But the second was not to match, finishing in a total of 1:40.28 to slip from eighth to 14th in Koenigssee.
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