Kripps trains for Canada
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Updated: July 14, 2009 12:18 PM
Summer means vacation for most, but training for one Summerland man on the national bobsled team.
“Things are great,” said Justin Kripps during a recent stay in Summerland to visit family.
“We’re just kind of six weeks into off-season training.”
Training during the winter, Kripps said, involves weightlifting and conditioning. For the bobsledders, there is no break from the ice even in July. The four-man team will continue to push sleds in the Ice House at Calgary’s Canada Olympic Park. Kripps said the Ice House contains a 50 m start ramp that simulates the start of a bobsled track.
The bobsled push start places more responsibility on Kripps, brakeman for the four man team.
“Your only real main job is to get it going real fast at the start. You only use the brake after you cross the finish line.”
Kripps said the next meet for Canada’s national bobsled team will be the World Cup in mid-November. A Summerland product, Kripps now lives in Calgary to train with the team.
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