ALTENBERG, Germany — Nico Walther edged German rival Francesco Friedrich by five-hundredths of a second to win his second four-man bobsled World Cup of the season on Sunday while Canada's Justin Kripps settled for a fourth-place finish.
Walther, pushed by Kevin Kuske, Christian Poser and Eric Franke, finished in a combined time of 1 minute, 48.79 seconds after two runs.
Friedrich, who was pushed by Candy Bauer, Martin Grothkopp and Thorsten Margis, was left to rue a minor mistake in the first run, where the team finished fourth.
Oskars Kibermanis' Latvian team was third, 0.24 seconds behind Walther, while Kripps, from Summerland, B.C., was fourth, 0.35 seconds off the lead.
"The boys pushed really well today and helped us manage a decent result," said Kripps. "Altenberg can be tricky for four-man. I had some mistakes at the top of the track and one at the bottom as well in my first run."
Overall leader Johannes Lochner of Germany was fifth.
Kripps was joined by Alex Kopacz of London, Ont., Jesse Lumsden of Burlington, Ont., and Oluseyi Smith of Ottawa in the sled. The Canadian pilot won gold in the two-man competition Saturday with Kopacz.
Chris Spring of Calgary, Cam Stones of Whitby, Ont., Josh Kirkpatrick of London, Ont., and Edmonton's Neville Wright were 13th. Nick Poloniato of Hamilton, Ont., Sam Giguere of Sherbrooke, Que., Calgary's Derek Plug and Saskatoon's Ben Coakwell were 20th.
After six four-man races, Lochner leads with 1,235 points, ahead of Walther on 1,196 and Kripps on 1,156.
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With files from The Canadian Press.
The Associated Press