Pierre LUEDERS

The most decorated bobsledder in Canadian history, Pierre Leuders competed for Canada as early as 1990 and appeared at five Winter Olympics from 1994 through 2010. His list of international medals is long: two gold, four silver and two bronze medals at the World Bobsled Championships (five in two-man competitions and three in four-man) from 1995 through 2007, in addition to the gold he won in the two-man event at the 1998 Winter Olympics (shared with Italy) and the silver in at the 2006 Games. He has also won the combined men's event four times, the two-man six times (the only man in World Cup history to achieve this) and the four-man once at the World Cup. Bobsled, however, was not Leuders' first athletic choice and trained to be a decathlete until 1989. He turned down an offer to carry the Canadian Flag at the opening ceremony for the 2006 Winter Olympics, preferring to focus on training and preparation for the competitions. One of the turns at the Whistler Sliding Center, a venue for bobsled, luge and skeleton at the 2010 Olympics, is named "Lueders Loop" in his honor. After finishing fifth in both the two-man and four-man events at the 2010 Games, he retired from the sport and was named coach of the Canadian national bobsleigh team.