Joe Almasian

Last updated

Joe Almasian
Personal information
NationalityAmerican
Born (1967-03-08) 8 March 1967 (age 55)
Framingham, Massachusetts, United States
Sport
Sport Bobsleigh

Joseph Michael Almasian (born 8 March 1967) is an American bobsledder. [1] He competed in the two man event at the 1994 Winter Olympics, representing Armenia. [2] [3] Along with Ken Topalian, they were the first athletes to represent Armenia at the Olympics. [4]

Contents

Biography

Almasian was born in Framingham, Massachusetts in 1967. [3] He worked as a mechanical engineer in Sherborn, Massachusetts. [1] While he as at the University of New Hampshire he was a track athlete and played soccer. [3]

Three years after Armenia had gained independence in 1991, Almasian and Ken Topalian formed a team with the aim to compete in the bobsled event at the 1994 Winter Olympics representing Armenia. [3] This included getting a second-hand bobsled from American Samoa. [1] They both attended the training centre in Lake Placid to learn how to bobsled, [3] [5] being trained by Jim Hickey who had previously represented the United States at the Olympics in the event. [3] They could train for three hours each day at the weekend, using a sled from the 1960s. [1] To qualify for the Olympics, both of them gained Armenian citizenship and competed in five international races. [1]

With less than three weeks before the start of the 1994 Winter Olympics, Almasian and Topalian were given permission by the Armenian government to compete at the games. [3] They were the only athletes to represent Armenia at the 1994 Winter Olympics. [1] They finished in 36th place in the two-man event, ahead of seven other teams. [6] Neither of them competed in the event since the Olympics, and they had never been to Armenia. [3]

Almasian's participation at the Olympics was in honour of his grandparents, who escaped the Armenian genocide in 1915. [1] [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eugenio Monti</span> Italian bobsledder

Eugenio Monti was an Italian bobsledder and alpine skier. He is one of the most successful athletes in the history of the bobsleigh, with ten World championship medals and 6 Olympic medals including two golds. He is known also for his acts of sportsmanship during the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, which made him the first athlete ever to receive the Pierre de Coubertin medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Holcomb</span> American bobsledder (1980–2017)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armenia at the 1994 Winter Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Armenia sent a delegation to compete at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway from 12–27 February 1994. This was Armenia's first time competing at the Winter Olympic Games as an independent nation. The Armenian delegation consisted of two bobsledders, the Armenian-Americans Ken Topalian and Joe Almasian. They competed as a team in the two-man competition, where they finished in 36th place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamaica national bobsleigh team</span> Team representing Jamaica in international bobsleighing competitions

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Kohn</span> American bobsledder

Michael Kohn is an American former bobsledder who has competed since 1990. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he won a bronze medal in the four-man event at Salt Lake City in 2002 as a push athlete for pilot Brian Shimer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Kripps</span> Canadian bobsledder

Justin Kripps is a Canadian bobsledder and an Olympic 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaillie Humphries</span> Canadian-American bobsledder (born 1985)

Kaillie Humphries is a Canadian and 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elana Meyers Taylor</span> American bobsledder

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 The George Washington University, where she was a member of the softball team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Langton</span> American bobsledder

Steven Daniel Langton is an American bobsledder. He won silver medals in both the two-man and four-man events at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and gold in both the two-man and four-man events at the 2012 FIBT World Championships.

Edson Luques Bindilatti is a decathlete and bobsledder from Brazil.

Hakeem Abdul-Saboor is an American bobsledder. He competed in the two-man event at the 2018 Winter Olympics. He qualified to represent the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Evan Weinstock is an American Olympic bobsledder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine de Bruin</span> Canadian bobsledder

Christine de Bruin is a Canadian bobsledder. She competed in the two-woman event at the 2018 Winter Olympics with Melissa Lotholz. She won bronze in the women's event and a silver medal in the team relay at the 2019 Bobsled World Championships in Whistler, British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cam Stones</span> Canadian bobsledder

Cameron Stones is a Canadian bobsledder. He competed in the four-man event at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Yorgo Alexandrou is an American bobsledder. He represented Armenia at the 2002 Winter Olympics, earning 33rd place in the two-man bobsleigh event with Dan Janjigian.

Greg Harrell is an American bobsledder. He competed in the two-man event at the 1992 Winter Olympics.

Glenn Carroll is an Australian bobsledder. He competed in the two man and the four man events at the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Ken Topalian is an American bobsledder. He competed in the two man event at the 1994 Winter Olympics, representing Armenia. Along with Joe Almasian, they were the first athletes to represent Armenia at the Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamaica at the 2022 Winter Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Jamaica competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, from 4 to 20 February 2022.

Charlie Volker is an American bobsledder and former football running back. He played college football at Princeton and became a bobsledder after not making the NFL. Volker competed in the two-man bobsleigh event and in the four-man event at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Westford man's Olympic experience was one remarkable journey". Lowell Sun. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  2. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Joe Almasian Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Joe Almasian". Olympedia. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  4. ↑ "Olympic Flame Still Burns with Almasian". Armenia Weekly. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  5. ↑ "Two U.S. Bobsledders Make Armenia Proud". Tulsa World. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  6. ↑ "Hitching a ride on dreams and a prayer: Armenia's bobsled team". ACCC.org. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.