A Summerland athlete has been named as a coach of Team Canada’s Milano Cortina 2026 bobsleigh team for this year’s Winter Olympics.
Justin Kripps has been named as a team coach, along with Lyndon Rush and Chris Spring.
Kripps has had a lengthy career in bobsleigh. He has competed internationally and competed in the Winter Olympics three times.
In 2018, at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, Kripps and Alexander Kopacz tied for gold in the two-man bobsleigh competition.
At the games in South Korea, Kripps was also the pilot of the Canada-3 bobsleigh. The team lost out on an Olympic medal by less than one-third of a second that year.
Later, Kripps earned bronze in the four-man event in 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.
He has also earned silver in the two-man event at the 2017 World Championships and bronze in the mixed team event at the 2012 World Championships.
Jesse Lumsden, who was also part of the Canada-3 bobsleigh team with Kripps, has been named team leader with the coaching and support staff for this year’s Olympic team.
“Canada’s bobsleigh program is powered by our experienced leaders, fuelled by the drive our newcomers bring to the sport and driven by the diversity that defines us as being truly Canadian with athletes selected to Team Canada from all corners of the country,” said Lumsden, high-performance director, Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton.
“This group of athletes are fiercely determined to achieve their performance goals, and deliver results on the ultimate sporting stage, while we continue to nurture and develop a deep pool of athletes in a healthy and supportive culture of excellence.”
In the summer of 2022, Kripps announced he was retiring from bobsleigh competition.
“Sixteen years of living my dream, wearing the maple leaf proudly while representing this great country all over the world. It’s been my greatest challenge and the most rewarding adventure of my life,” he said at the time.
The 2026 Winter Olympics will be held in Italy from Feb. 6 to 22. Bobsleigh events take place from Feb. 12 to 22.