Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||
Born | Portland, Oregon | January 25, 1977||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.67 m) [1] | ||||||||||||||||
Weight | 143 lb (65 kg) [1] | ||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||
Country | United States | ||||||||||||||||
Sport | Bobsleigh | ||||||||||||||||
Event | Two-woman | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Jill Bakken (born January 25, 1977) is an American Olympic bobsledder who has competed since 1994. As the driver, she and partner Vonetta Flowers won the gold medal in Bobsleigh at the 2002 Winter Olympics for the U.S. Bakken's best Bobsleigh World Cup season finish was second in the two-woman event in 1999–2000. Bakken was a Specialist in the Utah Army National Guard and sponsored by the Army World Class Athlete Program at the time she won gold. [2]
Bakken is a graduate of Lake Washington High School [3] and an alumna of Eastern Washington University, transferring there in 2005. She has also attended the University of Utah and Oregon State University, playing one season of soccer as a defender at the latter. [4] [5]
Bakken is now a driving coach for the Canadian bobsleigh team and is married to Florian Linder who is also a coach for the Canadian bobsled team.
Three bobsleigh events were competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics, at Utah Olympic Park. The competition took place between February 16 and February 23, 2002.
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.
Vonetta Flowers is an American bobsledder. At the 2002 Winter Olympics, Flowers became the first African American and the first Black athlete from any country to win a gold medal at a Winter Olympics.
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.
Helen Lesley Upperton is a Canadian bobsledder who has competed since 2002. Upperton was born in Ahmadi, Kuwait as her parents involvement in the oil industry meant they traveled abroad. She holds dual citizenship of both Great Britain and Canada. Upperton won the silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics after previously finishing fourth in the two-woman event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. In 2020 Upperton won a Canadian Screen Award for “Best Sports Analyst” for her coverage of the Bobsleigh World Championship event with Mark Lee. She went to high school at Dr. E.P. Scarlett High School and graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with a BSc.
Heather Moyse is a Canadian athlete and two-time Olympic gold medalist, representing Canada in international competition as a bobsledder, rugby union player, and track cyclist and competing at the Canadian intercollegiate level in rugby, soccer and track and field.
André Lange is a retired German bobsledder and one of the most successful bob pilots of all time. Competing at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics, he has won four gold and one silver medals. Lange originally started his sledding career as a luger, taking up bobsleigh in 1993.
Sandra Kiriasis is a German former bobsledder who has competed from 2000 to 2014.
Anja Schneiderheinze-Stöckel is a German bobsledder who has competed since 2001. At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, she won gold in the two-woman event with teammate Sandra Kiriasis.
Shauna Linn Rohbock is a retired Olympic medal-winning bobsledder, former professional soccer player, and is a staff sergeant in the Utah Army National Guard. After retiring from competitions she worked as a bobsled coach at the Utah Olympic Park.
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.
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.
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.
Dan Steele is an American bobsledder and track and field athlete who competed from the early 1990s to 2002. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he won the bronze medal in the four-man event at Salt Lake City in 2002. He was recently one of the most successful collegiate track and field coaches in America.
Jean Prahm is an American bobsledder who competed from 1996 to 2006. She won three medals in the two-woman event at the FIBT World Championships with two silvers and a bronze (2004). Prahm, then known by her maiden name of Jean Racine, won the Bobsleigh World Cup season title in the two-woman event both in 1999-2000 and 2000–1. Earned the nickname "mean jean" after kicking off her bobsled partner just prior to the 2002 Olympics.
Nicola Minichiello is a retired British bobsledder who competed between 2001 and 2011. She won two medals in the two-woman event at the FIBT World Championships, winning a silver in 2005 and making history with a gold in 2009 partnering Gillian Cooke, to become the first British female bobsleigh driver to win a World Championships. Competing in three Winter Olympics, Minichiello earned her best finish of ninth in the two-woman event at Turin in 2006. This was also the best ever Olympic result by a GB women’s bobsleigh team.
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.
Elana Meyers Taylor is an American Olympic bobsledder and World Champion who has competed since 2007. Born in Oceanside, California, Meyers Taylor was raised in Douglasville, Georgia and is a graduate of George Washington University, where she was a member of the softball team.
Kelley Maureen O'Hara is an American professional soccer player who plays as a wingback for National Women's Soccer League club Gotham FC and the United States women's national soccer team. A two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion, and Olympic gold medalist, she previously played professionally for FC Gold Pride, the Boston Breakers, Sky Blue FC, Utah Royals FC and the Washington Spirit. While currently playing as a defender, she began her collegiate career playing as a forward and occasionally played an attacking role during her professional career.
The two-woman bobsleigh competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, was held at the Whistler Sliding Centre in Whistler, British Columbia, on 20–21 February.