Christopher Spring
Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia | 6 March 1984
Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) |
Weight | 99 kg (218 lb) |
Sport | |
Country | Australia (2008–2010) Canada (2010–present) |
Sport | Bobsleigh |
Achievements and titles | |
Olympic finals | Vancouver 2010
Sochi 2014 Pyeonchang 2018 Beijing 2022 |
Christopher Spring (born 6 March 1984) is an Australian-Canadian 4 x Olympic bobsledder who has competed since 2008. At the 2010 Winter Olympics, he competed for Australia in the two-man event. He switched allegiance to Canada later in 2010 and has since competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics, 2018 Winter Olympics and the 2022 Winter Olympics for Canada.
Career
[edit]Spring competed for Australia over three seasons and finished 29th in the two-man event at the FIBT World Championships 2009 in Lake Placid. He later went on to finish 22nd in the two-man event at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics
Since switching to represent Canada in 2010, Spring has won 9 world cup medals, including two gold and two crystal globes in both the two-man and four-man events. Spring has represented Canada 3 times at the Winter Olympic Games with a best result of 5th in the two-man competition with brakeman Jesse Lumsden.
Spring debuted on the World Cup tour for Canada in 2011, finishing 17th in the two-man event in Cesana, Italy.
He was involved in a catastrophic crash in January 2012 during the 2011–12 Bobsleigh World Cup in Altenberg, Germany, which put him in hospital for eight days.[1] After having his skin shredded and a piece of wood the size of a kitchen knife embedded in his back, Spring considered retiring but later returned to the track in April 2012.[1] He said of his fear of lost skills on his return, "I was really afraid I'd get back in the driver's seat and not know what to do. Or I would get halfway down the track and start freaking out." Yet he said that he felt few ill effects.[1]
In January 2022, Spring was named to Canada's 2022 Olympic team.[2][3][4]
Career highlights
[edit]- World Championships
- 4th, 2019 – Whistler, two-man
- FIBT (IBSF) World Cup Overall Season Championship
- Third, overall in the 2013–14 FIBT World Cup season, four-man
- Third, overall in the 2017–18 FIBT World Cup season two-man
- Olympic Games
- 5th, 2014 - Sochi Winter Olympics, two-man
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Steve Zemek (8 May 2012). "Spring relives crash horror". Gladstone Observer. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
- ^ "21 bobsleigh and skeleton athletes nominated to represent Team Canada in Beijing". www.bobsleighcanadaskeleton.c. Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton. 20 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- ^ Nichols, Paula (20 January 2022). "18 bobsleigh and 3 skeleton athletes to be on Team Canada at Beijing 2022". www.olympic.ca/. Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- ^ Smart, Zack (20 January 2022). "Kripps, de Bruin, Appiah headline formidable Canadian bobsleigh team at Beijing Games". www.cbc.ca/. CBC Sports. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
External links
[edit]- Christopher Spring on Instagram
- Christopher Spring at the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation
- Christopher Spring at Team Canada
- Christopher Spring at the Australian Olympic Committee
- Christopher Spring at Olympics.com
- Christopher Spring at Olympic.org (archived)
- Chris Spring at Olympedia
- Chris Spring at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- 1984 births
- Australian male bobsledders
- Canadian male bobsledders
- Bobsledders at the 2010 Winter Olympics
- Bobsledders at the 2014 Winter Olympics
- Bobsledders at the 2018 Winter Olympics
- Bobsledders at the 2022 Winter Olympics
- Living people
- Olympic bobsledders for Australia
- Olympic bobsledders for Canada
- Australian emigrants to Canada
- Naturalized citizens of Canada
- Sportspeople from Darwin, Northern Territory
- Sportsmen from the Northern Territory
- 21st-century Canadian sportsmen
- Bobsleigh biography stubs
- Australian winter sports biography stubs
- Canadian bobsleigh biography stubs