Pierre Lueders facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Pierre Lueders

Lueders at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin
Personal information
Full name	Pierre Lueders
Nationality	Canadian
Born	(1970-09-26) 26 September 1970 (age 54) Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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
Medal record Men's Bobsleigh Representing  Canada Olympic Games Gold 1998 Nagano Two-man Silver 2006 Turin Two-man World Championships Gold 2004 Königssee Two-man Gold 2005 Calgary Two-man Silver 1995 Winterberg Two-man Silver 1996 Calgary Two-man Silver 2003 Lake Placid Two-man Silver 2007 St. Moritz Four-man Bronze 1999 Cortina d'Ampezzo Four-man Bronze 2005 Calgary Four-man

Pierre Fritz Lueders (born September 26, 1970) is a Canadian bobsleigh athlete. He is an Olympic, world, and World Cup champion. Pierre competed in bobsleigh from 1990 until 2010.

He was a pilot for both two-man and four-man bobsleigh teams. After the 2010 Winter Olympics, he retired from competing. In 2012, Pierre Lueders was honored by being named to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.

About Pierre Lueders

Pierre Lueders grew up in Edmonton, a city in Alberta, Canada. He went to Winterburn School for his elementary and junior high education. Later, he attended Jasper Place High School.

Becoming a Bobsledder

Pierre first started as a decathlete, which is a sport with ten different events. In 1989, a cousin who was a sportswriter in East Germany suggested he try bobsleigh. His cousin thought Pierre's body type was better suited for bobsleigh.

Pierre started as a brakeman, which is a position in the bobsleigh team. He quickly improved and became a pilot by 1991. In 1992, he won the very first World Cup race he entered.

Olympic Achievements

Pierre Lueders competed in the Winter Olympics five times. He is known as the most successful bobsledder in Canadian history.

At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, Pierre was the pilot for the Canadian two-man bobsleigh team. His teammate was Dave MacEachern. They won the gold medal, sharing it with an Italian team. This was only Canada's second bobsleigh medal ever. It was also the first since 1964.

After the 1998 Games, Pierre and Dave stopped being partners. Dave wanted to try being a pilot himself. Pierre then teamed up with Ken Leblanc and Giulio Zardo.

At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Pierre finished fifth in the two-man race. He placed ninth in the four-man race. After this, he took a break from four-man bobsleigh for the 2002–03 season.

In the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, Pierre and his brakeman Lascelles Brown won a silver medal in the two-man event. They achieved this even though there was heavy snowfall during their race.

World Championship Success

Pierre Lueders also won eight medals at the FIBT World Championships. These championships are major international competitions.

He won two gold medals in the two-man event in 2004 and 2005. He earned four silver medals: three in two-man (1995, 1996, 2003) and one in four-man (2007). He also won two bronze medals in the four-man event in 1999 and 2005.

World Cup Victories

In the Bobsleigh World Cup, Pierre Lueders achieved many wins. He won the overall men's combined event four times (1993-94, 1994-95, 1997-98, 2005-06).

He won the two-man event a record six times (1993-94, 1994-95, 1996-97, 1997-98, 2002-03, 2005-06). He also won the four-man event once (1994-95). In total, Pierre Lueders won 88 career medals in the Bobsleigh World Cup.

Whistler Sliding Centre

On December 19, 2007, Pierre Lueders and his brakeman Justin Kripps were the first to go down the Whistler Sliding Centre track. This track was built for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

A turn at the Sliding Centre, called "Lueders Loop," is named after him. This happened after he crashed his sled there in March 2008. It was his first crash since 2001.

At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Pierre finished 5th in both the two-man and four-man bobsleigh races.

Coaching Career

After the Vancouver Games, Pierre Lueders retired from competing. He then became a development coach for the national bobsleigh team. He left this job in May 2012, saying he needed a break after 22 years as an athlete and coach.

However, just over a week later, Pierre was named the head coach of the Russian national bobsleigh team. This team went on to win two gold medals at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. He left his coaching position with Russia in June 2016.

In October 2017, he became the temporary head coach for the Republic of Korea's bobsleigh team. This was before their home Olympics at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. In the four-man bobsleigh event, the Korean team tied for the silver medal. This was the first Olympic medal ever won by an Asian bobsleigh team.

Personal Life

Since 1997, Pierre Lueders has lived in Calgary, Alberta. Outside of bobsledding, Pierre joined Sotheby's International Realty in Calgary in January 2017. He works there as an associate.

World Cup Results

Here are some of Pierre Lueders' top results from the Bobsleigh World Cup championships:

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

See also

In Spanish: Pierre Lueders para niños