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| Nationality | Austrian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 19 April 1994 Hall in Tirol, Austria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 93 kg (205 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse(s) | Elisabeth Vathje (m. 2018) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Austria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Bobsleigh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Two-man Four-man | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | BSC-Stubai | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Benjamin Maier (born 19 April 1994) is an Austrian bobsledder. [1]
Maier competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics for Austria. He teamed with brakeman Markus Sammer in the two-man event, finishing 22nd, and with Sammer, Stefan Withalm, Angel Somov and Sebastian Heufler in the four-man event, finishing 21st. [2] [3]
As of February 2016, his best showing at the World Championships is a bronze medal, in the 2013 team event. His best finish in an Olympic event is 5th, in the 2016 four-man event. [1]
Maier made his World Cup debut in January 2014. As of February 2016, his best finish is 2nd two times, in 2015–16 at St. Moritz and Schönau am Königssee. [1]
Maier married Canadian skeleton athlete Elisabeth Vathje in 2018. [4]
Skeleton is a winter sliding sport in which a person rides a small sled, known as a skeleton bobsled, down a frozen track while lying face down and head-first. The sport and the sled may have been named from the bony appearance of the sled.
Kristan Bromley is a retired British skeleton racer who has competed since 1996. He won the gold medal in the men's event at the 2008 FIBT World Championships in Altenberg, Germany. This was Great Britain's first gold medal at the FIBT World Championships since 1965.
Ireland sent a delegation to compete at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy from 10–26 February 2006. This was Ireland's fourth appearance at a Winter Olympic Games. The Irish delegation to Turin consisted of four athletes, two alpine skiers, one cross-country skier, and one skeleton racer. The best performance by any Irish competitor at these Olympics was 20th, by David Connolly in the men's skeleton race.
Shelley Rudman is a former skeleton bobsleigh athlete. She was the 2013 world champion in the event, won an Olympic silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in skeleton and is a former World Cup and European champion.
Gregor Schlierenzauer is an Austrian former ski jumper who competed from 2006 to 2021. He is one of the most successful ski jumpers of all time, having won the Ski Jumping World Cup overall title, the Four Hills Tournament, and Nordic Tournament twice each; the Ski Flying World Cup overall title three times; as well as four medals at the Winter Olympics, twelve at the Ski Jumping World Championships, and five at the Ski Flying World Championships.
Daumants Dreiškens is a Latvian bobsledder, brakeman, who has competed since 2003.
Justin Kripps is a Canadian bobsledder and the reigning Olympic co-champion in two-man bobsleigh following his gold medal win at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Kripps won a silver medal in the two-man event at the 2017 World Championships and a bronze in the mixed team event in the 2012 World Championships. He has competed in the sport since 2006 and has many World Cup podiums. During the 2017–18 Bobsleigh World Cup he finished the season in first in the two-man and overall, to win the Crystal Globe as overall champion
Oskars Melbārdis is a former Latvian bobsledder who has competed since 2006. He is the most successful bobsledder in the history of his country, having won one gold and two bronze Olympic medals. He also earned the first-ever gold medal for Latvia at World Championships in Igls, preceded by one silver and two bronze medals in 2009-2015.
The Whistler Sliding Centre is a Canadian bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track located in Whistler, British Columbia, that is 125 km (78 mi) north of Vancouver. The centre is part of the Whistler Blackcomb resort, which comprises two ski mountains separated by Fitzsimmons Creek. Located on the lowermost slope of the northern mountain, Whistler Sliding Centre hosted the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton competitions for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Kaillie Humphries is a Canadian-American bobsledder. Representing Canada, she was the 2010 and 2014 Olympic champion in the two-woman bobsled and the 2018 Olympic bronze medalist with brakewoman Phylicia George. With her victory in 2014, she became the first female bobsledder to defend her Olympic title and was named flagbearer for the Olympic closing ceremony with brakewoman Heather Moyse.
Elizabeth Anne Yarnold, OBE is a British former skeleton racer who joined the Great Britain national squad in 2010. With consecutive Olympic gold medals in 2014 and 2018, she is the most successful British Winter Olympian and the most successful Olympic skeleton athlete of all time from any nation. She won the 2013–14 Skeleton World Cup, followed by a gold in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Yarnold was selected to be one of the two women skeleton drivers representing Team GB at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, and went on to become the first person to defend an Olympic gold in skeleton and the first British athlete to defend a Winter Olympic title. Yarnold set the track record for women's skeleton at the Olympic venue in the final heat of the race with a time of 51.46 seconds, beating Jacqueline Lölling's pre-Olympic record by nearly 1.3 seconds and her own first-heat record by 0.2 second. Yarnold was also the flag bearer for Great Britain at the Pyeongchang opening ceremony.
Won Yun-jong is a South Korean bobsledder.
Markus Sammer is an Austrian bobsledder.
Jun Jung-lin is a South Korean bobsledder who competes as the brakeman for the two-man bobsled piloted by Kim Dong-hyun as well as a push crewman for the four-man bobsled piloted by Won Yun-jong.
Thorsten Margis is a German bobsledder.
Stefan Withalm is an Austrian bobsledder.
Angel Somov is an Austrian bobsledder.
Sebastian Heufler is an Austrian bobsledder.
Elisabeth Maier is a Canadian skeleton racer. In 2008, she was encouraged to try sliding sports by her father, who had shared an airplane trip with members of the Canadian luge team, but as a 14-year-old, she was too young to train bobsleigh, so she tried out for skeleton instead. She uses a Bromley sled. Vathje was named one of the three women to represent Canada in skeleton at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang after finishing third in the World Cup season standings for 2017–18. She is married to Austrian bobsleigh driver Benjamin Maier.
Great Britain competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 25 February 2018, with 58 competitors in 11 sports. They won five medals in total, one gold and four bronze, ranking 19th in the medal table.
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