Justin Kripps, Ben Coakwell slide to 2-man bobsleigh bronze in Latvia

Canada's Justin Kripps and Ben Coakwell finished third in Saturday's 2-man World Cup bobsleigh after Yun-jong Won of South Korea and Switzerland's Simon Friedli crashed on their runs in Sigulda, Latvia.

It was Kripps' first podium finish in the event since Dec. 8 when he and Cam Stones were third in Lake Placid, N.Y.

On Saturday, Kripps and Coakwell stopped the clock in a two-run time of one minute 39.53 seconds on the 1,200-metre track.

"It was a pretty crazy race with a couple of crashes, and we were just trying to be consistent. It worked out because we were fast at the bottom," Kripps, 33, told Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton after collecting his 16th World Cup two-man podium.

"This is a really fun, very technical track. We will need to find more speed at the top [Sunday to finish on the podium]."

WATCH | Justin Kripps, Ben Coakwell pick up bronze for Canada:

Latvia's Oskars Kibermanis gave the home crowd a thrill on Saturday, setting a record start time and holding off Germany's Francesco Friedrich, who clinched the overall season title.

Kibermanis and Matiss Miknis mastered the 16-corner track in 1:39.20 to narrowly defeat Friedrich and Martin Grothkopp (1:39.27).

WATCH | Latvia's Oskars Kibermanis earns his first-ever 2-man gold medal:

Kripps of Summerland, B.C., and Saskatoon's Coakwell, 32, will finish the season second in the overall standings, with Kibermanis third.

Kripps, the reigning Olympic champion, earned the eighth World Cup four-man medal of his career earlier this month with his third victory in the final four-man race of the in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

It was a stellar end to the World Cup four-man season for the Canadian team. After opening the season with back-to-back victories in the four-man sled at Lake Placid, Kripps also slid to the top of the four-man podium in Konigssee, Germany.

WATCH | Francesco Friedrich clinches overall season title:

Kripps' crew was formed following the 2018 Games with Olympians Coakwell and Stones, who have both also been tapped to push the Canadian sled in two-man.

Ryan Sommer joined the program last year and now has five four-man podiums. The team also won bronze at the 2019 World Championships on home ice in Whistler.

Competition continues Sunday, with live streaming at CBCSports.ca beginning at 3 a.m. ET.