Canada's bobsleigh king aims high at 5th Olympics

Lueders' lifetime experience part of winning formula

Last Updated: Monday, January 4, 2010 | 11:58 AM ET

By Lindsey Craig, CBC Sports

Not even Pierre Lueders himself can believe it.

“It will be my fifth Olympics,” he says with a hint of shock.

It’s true:

• Lillehammer, 1994.
• Nagano, 1998.
• Salt Lake City, 2002.
• Torino, 2006.
• And now Vancouver 2010.

"I’d say the average [bobsledder competes in] two Olympics, maybe three. But I get to five, and I’m pretty proud of that," Lueders said.

The Calgary resident, 39, has become an icon in the sport and one of the nation’s most decorated Olympians.

In his four Games to date, he’s collected two Olympic medals — gold in 1998 and silver in 2006 — both in the two-man race.

Then there’s the gaggle of hardware he’s amassed from other events: 85 World Cup medals, 11 overall World Cup titles and eight world championship medals.

“He’s the best thing that ever happened to the Canadian bobsleigh team,” said Dave MacEachern, the brakeman who won gold with Lueders in 1998. “He rewrote [the] history of the sport.”

Missing link

Still, something is missing from Lueders’s repertoire: an Olympic medal in the four-man event.

Lueders, among all his accomplishments, has yet to win an Olympic medal in the 4-man bobsleigh event. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)“It’s more competitive than the two-man. The starts [between teams] are much closer,” he said.

To try to achieve his goal, the six-foot-one, 224-pound driver heads to Whistler with a pretty powerful weapon – 20 years of experience.

He’s been racing so long, in fact, he doesn’t consider hurling himself down an icy track at up to 150 kilometres an hour “risky” – or even fast.

“It's different now. Everything is more controlled,” he said. “When you're younger, some of the risk you find yourself in is a result of inexperience,” he explained. “Not knowing where you are in the track or in the corner … or not overreacting versus not reacting enough.”

With experience, he said, “When you're inside…it actually seems slow, especially if you’re driving well.”

Driving well may be more of a challenge at the Vancouver Games. Bobsleigh events kick off at the Whistler Sliding Centre on Feb. 20.

“The last Olympic track, I adapted to it very quickly. … you could say, ‘Corner seven is very comparable to a corner on a track in Germany,’” he explained.

But the twists and turns of Whistler’s run are anything but familiar.

“In some situations, I didn't have an idea how to drive a corner a certain way because I couldn't compare it to anything,” he said, referring to an early training run.

Noting he had once taken his wife, Sandra, down the track in Calgary (at “only” 120 km/h), he wouldn’t dream of taking her for a ride at Whistler.

“It’s much too fast,” he said.

Casting call

Hoping to make it even faster are five potential brakemen, each one eager to propel Lueders down the course in February.

In the running for both events are David Bissett and Jesse Lumsden of Edmonton, Alta., and Neville Wright and Justin Kripps of Summerland, B.C. Ken Kotyk of Rama, Sask., is also vying for a spot on the four-man team.

Lueders (front) and brakeman Dave MacEachern celebrate their gold medal performance after crossing the line in the fourth run of the Olympic Two Man Bobsled competition in Nagano, Japan. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)Lueders is testing them in various combinations in eight World Cup races leading up to the Games.

“You can do all the sprint testing and all of the physical testing … but the real indicator will be how [these combinations] stack up against the best in the world,” Lueders said, emphasizing that cohesiveness in the four-man event is key.

“How well the guys understand what the guy in front of them or the guy behind them is doing, knowing what everybody is doing, and being confident in their abilities to get the job done,” he said.

Choosing brakemen is also something he’ll perform with experience. The meticulous pilot is known for his high turnover of pushing power.

“It’s not one element, it's all the elements and if one is lacking then you're putting yourself at a disadvantage right away,” Lueders said, referring to both his brakemen and the equipment

But while Lueders usually gets his pick of the draw when selecting his team, this year is different.

Lascelles Brown, who pushed Lueders to a silver medal at the 2006 Olympics and one of the world’s top brakemen, recently announced he would never again team up with the veteran.

Lueders wouldn’t comment, but MacEachern said: “I have no idea what caused Lascelles to speak out … but I think Pierre deserves a lot of credit and respect for what he’s done in the sport.

“Pierre is a bull – he can be stubborn, but at the end of the day, it’s that stubbornness and determination that’s created a lot of success,” he said.

It’s that success that drives Lumsden to push for a spot in Lueders’ sled.

“He’s a true pro. He knows what it takes to be a champion and is definitely someone I will learn a lot from in this sport,” Lumsden said.

Challenges ahead

Lueders has a lot of work ahead if he's do add a third Olympic medal to his decorated career. (Todd Bissonette/Associated Press)Lueders may know what it takes to be a champion but has a lot of work ahead.

Results from the current World Cup season indicate Brown is doing just fine with Canadian driver Lyndon Rush.

So far, Rush and his crew, Brown included, have made it down the track faster than Lueders and his team on more than one occasion.

Another less encouraging reality for Lueders is a groin injury, which he suffered at a Dec. 12 World Cup in Germany, an injury that happened while he was pushing his sled in the opening run of the two-man event.

Lueders expressed frustration with the injury, and saying only that, "Time will tell" when or if he'll be on the track again before the Games.

But MacEachern has no doubt he'll be in fine form come February.

If anyone would know, it would be MacEachern, who, in the mid-1990s, tore his groin a mere 17 days before the world championships and was still able to race.

Lueders "has nothing but time now," he said. "He's probably not in position to be knocked out of the top seed [for the Games]."

Seeding is significant since the Top 10 rated sleds are put into a draw determining the order in which they'll compete.

The sooner a sled goes down a clean, artificial course like Whistler's, the more advantageous it is, MacEachern said.

Regardless of seeding and even his injury, Lueders says while he's hopeful, it's difficult to predict what will happen at the Olympics. With more events remaining after Christmas, the season isn't over yet.

"We need to go through all the World Cups before we know who's favoured to do well," he said.

And before he decides who his Olympic teammates will be.

None of Lueders's brakemen combinations have so far yielded outstanding results in the four-man, the one event Lueders has yet to win at in an Olympics.

If it doesn't happen, it doesn't seem the bobsleigh king will feel any less proud of his lifelong career.

"I'd like to be remembered at some point as the driver that was not only successful in one event but both ... but it's pretty tough to have everything in your pocket," Lueders said.