Driver Justin Kripps and his Canadian teammates are OK after their sled flipped over during the second heat of today’s four-man bobsled event at Sanki Sliding Center.
Starting 13th in the second heat, CAN-3 was on pace to hit the top of the leaderboard before the left runner of the sled came off the ice as it approached a left-hand turn.
The sled then slammed into the banking and flipped over on its side. It went down the remainder of the course in that fashion and came to a stop after it had crossed the start/finish line - an important detail since CAN-3 would’ve been disqualified from the competition if it hadn’t made it to the stripe.
More important, however, is that while Kripps and push athletes Jesse Lumsden, Ben Coakwell, and Cody Sorensen were given immediate medical attention by the course workers, they were able to walk off the track.
Kripps himself later tweeted the following about the incident:
I'd be lying if I said that one didn't hurt. Thanks for all the support, we were laying it all out there. #cashorcrash
— Justin Kripps (@justinkripps) February 22, 2014
The team also tweeted that each of them would be looked over by a doctor as a standard procedure:
UPDATE: All Team Kripps athletes walked away from crash & being looked at by doc (std proc.) Injuries appear to be minor. Will update here.
— BobsleighCANSkeleton (@BobCANSkel) February 22, 2014
