Related Research Articles
Tristan Gale is an American skeleton racer who competed from 2001 to 2006. At the 2002 Winter Olympics, she became the inaugural women's skeleton champion. Gale dyed her hair with streaks of red, white and blue for the 2002 Olympics. During the 2002–2003 season, Tristan won a second gold medal on her home track in Salt Lake during a World Cup stop. She remains undefeated at the track in Utah since the Olympics.
Kazuhiro Koshi is a Japanese skeleton racer who has competed since 1991. Competing in three Winter Olympics, he earned his best finish of eighth in the men's skeleton event at Salt Lake City in 2002. He was the oldest member of the Japanese team at the 2010 Winter Olympics and, because of this, was referred to in media reports as, "the hope of the middle class."
Maya Pedersen-Bieri is a Swiss-Norwegian skeleton racer who has competed since 1995. She won the gold medal in the women's skeleton event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. She retired from the sport in 2010 before returning to compete for Norway in 2016, becoming at the oldest woman to start a World Cup race when she returned to the top level of skeleton in 2017. She is listed in the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation athlete registration system as Maya Pedersen.
Mellisa Hollingsworth is a retired Canadian athlete who competed from 1995 to 2014. She won the bronze medal in the women's skeleton event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
Gerda Weissensteiner OMRI is an Italian luger and bobsleigh pilot who competed from the late 1980s to 2006. Competing in six Winter Olympics, she won the gold medal in the women's singles luge event at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, and together with Jennifer Isacco she won the bronze in Turin in the two-woman bobsleigh at the 2006 Winter Olympics. She was the first Italian sportsperson to win Olympic medals in two disciplines.
Anja Huber is a German skeleton racer who has competed since 2003. She earned two gold medals at the 2008 FIBT World Championships in Altenberg, Germany, winning them in women's skeleton and the mixed bobsleigh-skeleton team event.
Michelle Steele is an Australian skeleton racer who has competed since 2004. She finished 13th in the women's skeleton event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
Helene "Leni" Thurner is an Austrian luger who competed during the 1960s. She won the bronze medal in the women's singles event at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. She also competed at the 1968 Winter Olympics.
Erika Lechner is an Italian luger who competed during the late 1960s and early 1970s. At the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, she originally finished third in the women's singles event behind Ortrun Enderlein and Anna-Maria Müller, but was awarded the gold medal upon the disqualifications of Enderlein, Müller, and Angela Knösel when the East Germans were discovered to have their runners being illegally heated.
Ingrīda Amantova is a Latvian-born Soviet luger who competed during the early 1980s. Competing in two Winter Olympics, she won the bronze medal in the women's singles event at Lake Placid, New York, in 1980 and finished fourth in the same event at the following Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. This was the only instances Soviet or Latvian athletes won Olympic medals in women's luge.
Susi-Lisa Erdmann is an East German-German luger and bobsledder who competed from 1977 to 1998 in luge, then since 1999 in bobsleigh. She was born in Blankenburg, Bezirk Magdeburg. Competing in five Winter Olympics, she won two medals in the women's singles luge event with a silver in 1994 and a bronze in 1992, and a bronze at the inaugural two-women bobsleigh event in 2002. She is one of only two people to ever win a medal in both bobsleigh and luge at the Winter Olympics; Italy's Gerda Weissensteiner is the other.
Barbara Niedernhuber is a German luger who competed from 1994 to 2006. She won two silver medals in the women's singles event at the Winter Olympics. A favorite to make the 2006 Winter Olympics, she was upset at the national championships by Tatjana Hüfner in late 2005.
Anna Orlova is a retired Latvian luger who competed at six Winter Olympics between 1992 and 2010. She won the silver medal in the mixed team event at the 2003 FIL World Luge Championships in Sigulda, Latvia and finished fourth in the women's singles event at those same championships.
Kerstin Szymkowiak is a German retired skeleton racer who has competed since 2002. She won three bronze medals in the women's skeleton event, earning them in 2004, 2008, and 2009.
Kathryn "Katie" Uhlaender is an American skeleton racer who has competed since 2003. She has won six medals at the FIBT World Championships with two gold, one silver, and three bronze.
Emily Dianne Azevedo is an American bobsledder who has competed since 2002. She won two medals in the mixed bobsleigh-skeleton team event at the FIBT World Championships with a silver in 2007 and a bronze in 2008.
Louise Corcoran is a New Zealand skeleton racer who has competed since 2000. She finished 12th in the women's skeleton event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. Her best World Cup result was 11th in Sigulda in 2005.
Monika Wołowiec is a Polish skeleton racer who has competed since 2004. She finished 15th and last in the women's skeleton event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
Maija Tīruma is a former Latvian luger who competed from 2000 to 2013. She won two bronze medals in the mixed team relay event at the FIL World Luge Championships. Tīruma also won a gold medal in the mixed team relay event at the 2008 FIL European Luge Championships in Cesana, Italy and finished seventh in the women's singles event at those same championships. Competing in three Winter Olympics, she earned her best finish of ninth in the women's singles event at Vancouver in 2010.
The women's skeleton event at the 2010 Winter Olympics took place at the Whistler Sliding Centre on 18–19 February. The competition was won by British athlete Amy Williams, who set new course records for the track on her first and third runs. Williams, who had never before won a World Cup or World Championship event, became the first British athlete to win a solo Winter Olympic gold medal in 30 years. German sliders Kerstin Szymkowiak and Anja Huber won the silver and bronze medals respectively. Williams' teammate Shelley Rudman, who had won the silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics, and Canadian Mellisa Hollingsworth, both of whom had been expected to be in medal contention, were disappointed.
References
- 2006 women's skeleton results (todor66.com)
- CONI profile for the 2006 Winter Olympics at the Wayback Machine (archived 2011-07-22)(in Italian)
- Costanza Zanoletti at the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation
- Costanza Zanoletti at SkeletonSport.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 2005-05-18)
