| Four-man at the XVIII Olympic Winter Games | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Venue | Spiral |
| Dates | February 20 — 21 |
| Competitors | 128 from 25 nations |
| Winning time | 2:39.41 |
| Medalists | |
| Bobsleigh at the 1998 Winter Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Two | men |
| Four | men |
The Four-man bobsleigh competition at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano was held on 22 and 23 February, at Spiral. [1] Weather led to the cancellation of the second run on the opening day, meaning the competition had three total runs. [2]
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVIII Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Nagano 1998, was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the nearby mountain communities of Hakuba, Karuizawa, Nozawa Onsen, and Yamanouchi. The city of Nagano had previously been a candidate to host the 1940 Winter Olympics, as well as the 1972 Winter Olympics, but had been eliminated at the national level by Sapporo on both occasions.
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event held in Nagano, Japan, from 7 to 22 February 1998. Twenty-four nations earned medals at these Games, and fifteen won at least one gold medal; forty-eight countries left the Olympics without winning a medal. Competitors from Germany earned the highest number of gold medals (12) and the most overall medals (29). With 10 gold medals and 25 overall medals, Norway finished second in both categories. Denmark won its first – and as of 2018 only – Winter Olympics medal, while Bulgaria and the Czech Republic won their first Winter Games gold medals. Azerbaijan, Kenya, Macedonia, Uruguay, and Venezuela competed for the first time, but none of them won a medal.
Bobsleigh at the 1998 Winter Olympics consisted of two events at Spiral. The competition took place between February 16 and February 23, 1998.
Pierre Fritz Lueders is a Canadian Olympic, world and World Cup champion bobsledder who competed from 1990 to 2010. He piloted both two-man and four-man bobsleigh, retiring after the 2010 Winter Olympics. He was named to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.
Sandis Prūsis is a Latvian bobsleigh coach and former bobsledder. Starting his career in the 1980s, he competed professionally from 1990 to 2003. Competing in three Winter Olympics, he earned his best finish in the two-man event at Nagano in 1998, he got fifth place. Prūsis's best Bobsleigh World Cup finish was second two times, all in the four-man event.
Alexandr Yuryevich Zubkov is a Russian retired bobsledder who has competed since 1999. Competing in four Winter Olympics, he won two medals with a silver in 2006 (four-man) and a bronze in 2010 (two-man). On 24 November 2017, he was found guilty of doping offences and stripped of his medals from the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Antonio Tartaglia is an Italian bobsledder who competed in the 1990s. He came to the sport from athletics, having focused on the shot put and discus. He took up bobsledding after joining the Carabinieri, and represented Centro Sportivo Carabinieri.
Steven Paul Holcomb was an American bobsledder who competed from 1998 until his death in 2017. At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, he won the four-man bobsled event for the United States, its first gold medal in that event since 1948. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, he finished second in both the four-man and two-man event.
Trinidad and Tobago sent a delegation to compete at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan from 7–22 February 1998. This was the nation's second time appearing at a Winter Olympic Games. The delegation to Nagano consisted of two bobsledders; Gregory Sun and Curtis Harry. In the two-man competition, they finished in 32nd place.
Jamaica competed in the Winter Olympic Games for the first time at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They competed in one sport, Bobsledding, in both the two-man and four-man events and finished outside the medal places in both competitions. Athletes were recruited from the Jamaica Defence Force, which saw Dudley Stokes, Devon Harris, and Michael White become the first members of the team. Caswell Allen was the fourth man, but was injured prior to the start of the Olympics and was replaced by Chris Stokes, who was only in Canada to support his brother and new teammate Dudley.
The Jamaica national bobsleigh team represents Jamaica in international bobsleighing competitions. The men's team debut in the 1988 Winter Olympic Games four-man bobsleigh in Calgary, Alberta, was received as underdogs in a cold weather sport represented by a nation with a tropical environment. Jamaica returned to the Winter Olympics in the two-man bobsleigh in 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2014 and 2022; a women's team debuted in 2018.
Emmanuel Hostache was a French bobsledder who competed from 1991 to 2000. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he won a bronze medal in the four-man event at Nagano in 1998. Hostache was born at La Mure, in south-eastern France.
Paul Attwood is a British bobsledder who competed during the 1990s. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he won a bronze medal in the four-man event at Nagano in 1998, with a time of 2 minutes, 40.06 seconds.
David "Eli" MacEachern was a two-sport athlete from Canada. He was a Canadian bobsledder who competed in the 1990s. Competing in three Winter Olympics, he and Pierre Lueders won the gold medal in the two-man event at Nagano in 1998. He was also a soccer player that competed at the university level as well as national competitions. He was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
The Spiral is a bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track located in Iizuna village, located north of Nagano, Japan. Used for the bobsleigh and luge competitions for the 1998 Winter Olympics, it is the first permanent bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track in Asia and the first of its type in the world with two or more uphill sections. It is officially referred to as the Nagano Bobsleigh-Luge Park in Japan.
Winston Alexander Watts is a member of the Jamaica national bobsleigh team. He has competed in four Olympics, most recently the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
The Two-man bobsleigh competition at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano was held on 14 and 15 February, at Spiral. Huber lead Lueders by 0.05 seconds after the first run. Leuders picked up 0.02 seconds in the next two runs. Prior to the start of the fourth run, Lueders turned to Huber and asked "Can you imagine if we tied this thing?" After the fourth run, Tartaglia stated "In the end, it felt like were friends who had accomplished something together."
The Four-man bobsleigh competition at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville was held on 21 and 22 February, at La Plagne.
Jamaica competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, from 4 to 20 February 2022.
