Maya Pedersen-Bieri facts for kids
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| Birth name | Maya Bieri | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 27 November 1972 (age 52) Spiez, Switzerland |
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| Height | 162 cm | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 58 kg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Maya Pedersen-Bieri is a super fast skeleton racer from Switzerland and Norway. She was born on November 27, 1972, in Spiez, Switzerland. Skeleton is a winter sport where athletes slide head-first down an icy track on a small sled.
Maya won a gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. She stopped competing in 2010 but made an amazing comeback in 2016. This time, she raced for Norway, which is her husband's home country. Her husband, Snorre Pedersen, is also her coach. When she returned to the top level of skeleton in 2017, she became the oldest woman to start a World Cup race!
Maya is married to Snorre Pedersen and they have two daughters. They live in Øyer Municipality near Lillehammer, Norway.
Contents
Maya's Amazing Achievements
Maya Pedersen-Bieri was one of the best skeleton athletes in the world. She won many important races.
World Championship Wins
Maya won the FIBT World Championships twice in the women's skeleton event.
- She won in 2001 in Calgary.
- She won again in 2005, also in Calgary.
At the 2007 World Championships in St. Moritz, she won two more medals:
- A silver medal in the women's skeleton.
- A bronze medal in the mixed team event, which combines bobsleigh and skeleton.
She also won a silver medal in the mixed team event at the 2009 championships.
Other Big Wins
In 2006, Maya was the European champion in St. Moritz. She also won the overall Skeleton World Cup title in the 1997-1998 season.
At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, she finished fifth in the women's skeleton event. Maya took a break from racing in the 2007-2008 season because she had a baby. She came back strong for the 2008-09 Skeleton World Cup. In her first race back, on December 5, 2008, she finished third in Altenberg, Germany.
Maya qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics and finished ninth. After these Olympics, she decided to retire from the sport.
Her Comeback for Norway
In 2016, Maya Pedersen-Bieri started racing again, but this time for Norway. She competed in different races like the Continental Cup and the Intercontinental Cup. Her best result was a third-place finish in Park City.
She represented Norway at the IBSF World Championships 2017 in Königssee. She returned to the World Cup circuit for the 2017–18 season. Even though she didn't make the final cut in the first few races, she still earned 19th place in the European Championship race at Igls.
Images for kids
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The Olympic rings represent the five continents.
See also
In Spanish: Maya Pedersen-Bieri para niños
