Kripps, Stones begin 2019 with 2-man bobsleigh silver
Fellow Canadians Poloniato, Coakwell 14th in Altenberg, Germany
A month ago, Justin Kripps and his Canadian bobsleigh teammates reiterated their season goal to "sing the national anthem every weekend."
On Saturday, the first weekend of 2019, Kripps and brakeman Cam Stones came close as they celebrated the latter's 27th birthday with a silver medal in the two-man event in Altenberg, Germany.
Germany's Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis posted the fastest second-run time of 55.81 seconds en route to victory in one minute 52.19 seconds, 37-100ths of a second ahead of the Canadians (1:52.56) and Latvia's Oskars Kibermanis and Matiss Miknis (1:52.67).
Watch Justin Kripps & Cam Stones reach the podium:
Hamilton's Nick Poloniato and Ben Coakwell of Regina placed 14th.
Kripps and Stones also won a two-man event at the Europe Cup on Dec. 12 at Koenigssee, Germany. Kripps then partnered with Coakwell to win the following day.
Gold in Pyeongchang
Kripps also enjoyed success in four-man competition on Dec. 16, teaming with Ryan Sommer, Stones and Coakwell for a second-place finish in Germany.
Watch the Germans ride a blistering 2nd run to victory:
Kripps, 31, and Alex Kopacz won two-man gold at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, tying the winning four-run time of 3:16.86 to share gold with Friedrich and Margis.
It capped a memorable season for Kripps of Summerland, B.C., who won a gold, three silver and bronze in the World Cup circuit's eight races to claim the season's overall title.
Olympic champ ekes out women's victory
Jamanka and Annika Drazek finished their two runs in one minute 57.25 seconds. Canadians Christine de Bruin and Kristen Bujnowski were second, 0.31 seconds back, while Americans Elana Meyers Taylor and Lake Kwaza were another 0.08 seconds off the pace in third.
Watch Germany edge Canada's de Bruin, Bujnowski for gold:
