Canada's Kripps sits in bronze position at midway point of 4-man bobsleigh raceAfter a disappointing race in the two-man event, four-time Olympian Justin Kripps is in a medal position heading into the penultimate and final runs.

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Summerland, B.C., native has podium within reach heading into final runs on Saturday

Ben Steiner · CBC Sports(Daniel Mihailescu/Getty Images)comments

Podium hopes in four-man bobsleigh appear positive for Canada's top sled at the midway point. With Justin Kripps as the pilot, Canada sits in the bronze medal position behind two German sleds.

Kripps, a four-time Olympian, has never won a medal in the four-man event but sits just 0.38 seconds back of Germany's Francesco Friedrich for the lead after the first two runs at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre. 

With a crew of Ryan Sommer, Cameron Stones and Ben Coakwell, Kripps' sled came into the race ranked second in the world, only behind Friedrich. In the 2021-22 World Cup season, Kripps drove to the podium three times and only finished outside of the top five once in eight races.

Seeking a fourth Olympic gold medal, Friedrich and his team of Thorsten Margis, Candy Bauer, and Alexander Schueller took the lead at the halfway point of the four-man race at the Beijing Games in 1 minute, 57 seconds flat.

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That's a mere 0.03 seconds ahead of Lochner — the first-heat leader — and his team of Florian Bauer, Christopher Weber and Christian Rasp. "There is actually not much of a difference," Lochner said. "For us, the race starts at zero tomorrow."

Olympic bobsleigh races combine the times of four runs over two days, compared to regular World Cup races, which combine just two runs.

WATCH | Justin Kripps drives Canada's top sled to third place on Friday:

Canada's Justin Kripps in bronze-medal position midway through 4-man bobsleigh

17 hours agoDuration 4:19Pilot Justin Kripps of Summerland, B.C. is in third place, after two of four runs, in the Olympic 4-man bobsleigh competition at Beijing 2022.Beijing bubble life described from 'camp' to 'sports prison' by Canadian Olympians

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