Pierre Lueders won gold at the Nagano Games in 1998.
It has been a long struggle since, including a disappointing fifth in two-man at the Salt Lake Olympics, but the Edmonton driver is back on top again.
Lueders won his second consecutive world championship in two-man last spring. And two weekends ago he won his sixth World Cup championship, his first since 2003. A month ago he won both two-man and four-man in the same World Cup event in Europe for the first time in his career.
While the Canadian says the near-unanimous opinion of the bobsledders themselves is that Andre Lange of Germany is favoured to win gold, Lueders is certainly one of the favourites to make it to the podium.
But this year, Lueders has a chance to win two medals. He has never been a force in four-man. But he won his first four-man World Cup event in Europe last year and along with his win in Konigssee, Germany, in January and other good results, ended up second in the World Cup four-man standings this year.
Lascelles Brown, a Jamaican bobsledder who is married to a Canadian and whose son is a Canadian citizen, is Lueders' brakeman for both sleds. Brown, after a long wait, took his oaths as a Canadian citizen 15 days before the opening ceremonies.
Event Schedule
Sat., Feb. 18
Two-Man Qualifying
Sun, Feb. 19
Two-Man Final
Thur., Feb. 24
Four-Man Qualifying
Fri., Feb.25
Four-Man Final
Previous Games
Captured a gold medal in 1998 but struggled four years later in Salt Lake.
Olympics:
2002
1998