Pierre Lueders

Pierre Lueders

Lueders at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin
Personal information
Full name Pierre Lueders
Nationality Canada Canadian
Born 26 September 1970
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Residence Calgary, Alberta
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 101 kg (223 lb)
Sport
Country  Canada
Sport Bobsleigh
Retired 2010
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals 1st2nd

Pierre Fritz Lueders (born 26 September 1970 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian Olympic, world and World Cup champion bobsledder who competed from 1990 to 2010. He piloted both two-man and four-man bobsleigh, retiring after the 2010 Winter Olympics. He was named to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.[1]

Biography

Lueders grew up in Edmonton and went to Winterburn School for elementary and junior high. He also attended Jasper Place High School for grades 10 through 12.

Sports career

Originally a decathlete, in 1989 he switched to bobsleigh on the advice of a cousin who was a sportswriter in what was then East Germany, who suggested his build was better suited to the latter sport. Beginning as a brakeman and progressing rapidly, he became a pilot by 1991 and in 1992 won the first World Cup race he entered.[2]

A five-time Olympian, Lueders is the most decorated slider in Canadian history. He was the pilot of the Canadian two-man bobsleigh (teamed with Dave MacEachern) that won the gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics (shared with Italy). This was only Canada's second ever medal in bobsleigh. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City Lueders placed a disappointing fifth place finish in two-man, and ninth in four-man, causing him to take the 2002-03 season off in four-man.

In 2006, he turned down an offer to carry the Canadian flag during the Opening Ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, to concentrate on his races. In the two-man event he and his brakeman Lascelles Brown won silver despite having to contend with heavy snowfall.

Lueders also won eight medals at the FIBT World Championships with two golds (Two-man: 2004, 2005), seven silvers (Two-man: 1995, 1996, 2003; Four-man: 2007), and two bronzes (Four-man: 1999, 2005).

In the Bobsleigh World Cup, Lueders won the combined men's event four times (1993-4, 1994-5, 1997-8, 2005-6), the two-man event a record six times (1993-4, 1994-5, 1996-7, 1997-8, 2002-3, 2005-6), and the four-man event once (1994-5). Pierre Lueders has won 85 career medals in the Bobsleigh World Cup.[3]

Lueders and his brakeman Justin Kripps made the first run down the Whistler Sliding Centre, a facility built for the 2010 Winter Olympics, on 19 December 2007. Turn 7 at the Sliding Centre, "Lueders Loop", is named in his honor after he crashed out his sled during the track's homologation in March 2008, his first crash since the 2001 Goodwill Games.

In 2010, he finished 5th in the two-man bobsleigh race. He finish 5th in the four-man bobsleigh. Lueders retired after the Vancouver Games and was named as a national bobsleigh team development coach. He left the job in May 2012, saying he wanted a break from the sport after 22 years as an athlete and coach.[4] However just over a week later Lueders was appointed head coach of the Russian national bobsleigh team[5] that would go on to win two gold medals at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

Personal life

As of 2012 Lueders resides in Calgary, Alberta with his wife, Sandra, and two daughters, Zoe and Maya. He can be seen in some commercials as well.

Results

World Cup Championships

Rank Season Event
1st 1993-94 Two-man
1st 1993-94 Combined
1st 1994-95 Two-man
1st 1994-95 Four-man
1st 1994-95 Combined
1st 1996-97 Two-man
1st 1997-98 Combined
1st 1997-98 Two-man
1st 2002-03 Two-man
1st 2005-06 Combined
1st 2005-06 Two-man
2nd 1995-96 Combined
2nd 1995-96 Two-man
2nd 2001-02 Two-man
2nd 2003-04 Combined
2nd 2003-04 Two-man
2nd 2004-05 Two-man
2nd 2006–07 Two-man
2nd 2005-06 Four-man
2nd 2006–07 Combined
3rd 1996-97 Combined
3rd 1998-99 Combined
3rd 1998-99 Two-man
3rd 1999-00 Combined
3rd 1999-00 Four-man
3rd 2004-05 Combined
3rd 2004-05 Four-man

References

  1. ↑ "Canadian Sports Hall adds Lueders, Niedermayer, others". CBC Sports. 19 April 2012.
  2. ↑ Michael Farber (4 February 1998). "1998 Nagano Olympics [Preview] - Pierre Lueders". Sports Illustrated.
  3. ↑ Jurmain, Jeff (18 November 2008). "Lueders Leads Canada into Bobsleigh World Cup Season". Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  4. ↑ "Pierre Lueders leaves national bobsled team". CBC News. 24 May 2012.
  5. ↑ Perry, Rod (4 June 2012). "Pierre Lueders joining Russian bobsleigh team as head coach". cbc.ca. Retrieved 28 January 2014.

External links