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Pierre Lueders

Bobsleigh Athlete — Inducted 1999

Pierre Lueders is one of Canada’s most successful bobsleigh athletes and an internationally respected ambassador for Alberta sport. Born in Edmonton and later based in Calgary, he discovered bobsleigh at the age of 20 and joined the international World Cup circuit in 1990.

Lueders quickly established himself among the world’s elite pilots through technical precision and consistent performance. During the 1994–95 season, he made bobsleigh history by winning World Cup gold in all three categories — two-man, four-man, and combined — in the same season.

Partnered with brakeman Dave MacEachern, Lueders dominated international competition during the late 1990s, capturing overall World Cup titles in both the 1996–97 and 1997–98 seasons.

The highlight of his competitive career came at the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan, where Lueders and MacEachern won the gold medal in the two-man bobsleigh. In one of the most dramatic finishes in Olympic history, Canada and Italy recorded identical times after four runs — a tie estimated to have odds of approximately one in one million.

Over the course of his career, Lueders earned multiple World Cup victories and podium finishes while helping establish Canada as a dominant force in international bobsleigh competition. He competed in five Olympic Winter Games and remained one of the sport’s most consistent competitors for nearly two decades.

After Induction

Following his Alberta Sports Hall of Fame induction, Lueders continued competing at the highest level internationally.

At the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy, he captured a silver medal in the two-man event alongside brakeman Lascelles Brown. He concluded his Olympic career at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, finishing fifth in both the two-man and four-man competitions before announcing his retirement from competition in July 2010.

Lueders transitioned into coaching and athlete development following retirement. From 2010 to 2012, he served as pilot coach for Canada’s World Cup and Europa Cup teams before becoming head coach of the Russian national bobsleigh program in 2012.

Awards and Honours

  • Olympic Gold Medal — Two-Man Bobsleigh, Nagano 1998
  • Olympic Silver Medal — Two-Man Bobsleigh, Torino 2006
  • Five-Time Olympic Athlete (1994–2010)
  • Multiple IBSF World Cup Overall Championships
  • 1994–95 — World Cup Champion (Two-Man, Four-Man, Combined)
  • 1996–97 — World Cup Overall Champion
  • 1997–98 — World Cup Overall Champion
  • 1999 — Alberta Sports Hall of Fame Inductee
  • 2012 — Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame Inductee

Career Timeline

  • 1990 — Joined International World Cup Circuit
  • 1998 — Olympic Gold Medal, Nagano
  • 2006 — Olympic Silver Medal, Torino
  • 2010 — Fifth Place, Two-Man and Four-Man, Vancouver Olympics
  • July 2010 — Retirement from Competition
  • 2010–2012 — Pilot Coach, Canadian World Cup and Europa Cup Teams
  • 2012 — Head Coach, Russian National Bobsleigh Team