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Date of Birth: 26/09/70 |
Place of Birth: Edmonton, AB |
Residence: Calgary, AB |
Height: 6'1" |
Weight: 218 lbs |
Years on National Team: 13 |
It hasn't been smooth sledding for bobsleigh pilot Pierre Lueders since his gold medal performance at the 1998 Nagano Olympics with partner
Dave MacEachern in the two-man event.
However there were signs last winter that the former decathlete and his new partner
Ken LeBlanc are over equipment problems which hampered
them for part of the 2000-2001 campaign. Lueders had been using the same sled since 1996 and admitted it was starting to show some wear and tear.
They earned a bronze medal at the World Cup final in Calgary, which ended Canada's 14-month medal drought in the two-man event. The
previous best result last season for Lueders and LeBlanc was fifth at the world championships.
"We worked really hard but didn't have a lot of success," said Lueders. "The first half of the season was terrible but it seems from race to race
we are getting better. A lot of countries have sort of written us off and maybe that's a good thing."
Lueders has won 35 World Cup medals in his career, 16 of them gold. He's the only man in the history of the sport to win the overall World Cup
two-man title four times. He was the two-man, four-man and combined World Cup champ in 1995 and has earned three medals at the world
championships.
He was a decathlete until 1989 but switched to bobsleigh on the advice of his cousin who was a sportswriter in Germany. He began as a
brakeman and by 1991 he had earned his pilot licence.
What Canada Did
Feb. 23 - Four-man: Pierre Lueders, Edmonton; Ken LeBlanc, Calgary; Giulio Zardo, Montreal and Pascal Caron, Cap-de-la-Madeleine, wound up ninth after four runs in a final field of 30.
Feb. 22 - Four-man: Pierre Lueders, Edmonton; Ken LeBlanc, Calgary; Giulio Zardo, Montreal; Pascal Caron, Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Que., were 11th in a field of 33 afrer first two runs.
Feb. 17 - Two-man: Pierre Lueders, Edmonton, and Giulio Zardo, Montreal, finished fifth in a final field of 38
Feb. 16 - Men's two-man: Pierre Lueders, Calgary, and Giulio Zardo, Montreal, were fourth after two runs in a field of 39, with two runs to go Sunday
Pierre Lueders Photos
Canadian push of the CAN-1
More Pierre Lueders Stories
Lueders set to defend his Olympic gold
He's goin' for gold again
Lueders leads Canadian men's bobsled team
Lueders, Hindle race to fourth place
Lueders wins first medal this year in World Cup
2002 Games Bobsleigh Coverage
