Lange, Andre

▪ 2009

born June 28, 1973, Ilmenau, E.Ger.

      By collecting gold medals throughout the 2007–08 season, German bobsleigh driver André Lange confirmed that he was a dominant force in the world of international bobsleigh racing and arguably one of the greatest drivers ever. Lange earned a podium finish at each venue on the World Cup circuit, including four gold medals, three of those during the last three World Cup races. His consistency earned him the World Cup overall titles in both two-man (his first) and four-man (his third) bobsleigh. At the 2008 world championships, held in Altenberg, Ger., less than two weeks later, Lange drove to a double gold-medal performance, securing his third straight (and fourth career) two-man title (all with his longtime brakeman Kevin Kuske) and his seventh career four-man title.

      Lange switched at age 19 to bobsleigh from another sliding sport, luge. After winning his World Cup bobsleigh debut, in 1998 at the four-man event in Calgary, Alta., he finished his premier season 13th and 24th in the overall World Cup rankings in four-man and two-man, respectively. He continued to climb in the World Cup overall driver rankings, and since 1998 he had not finished below the top 10 in either two-man or four-man racing.

      During his Olympic debut at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah, Lange competed only in the four-man event. In the first heat, he finished behind American pilot Todd Hays. The second heat did not prove better, with Lange slipping to third overall. During the third heat, his sled overtook the lead. He drove well in the fourth heat and held on to win the gold medal by 0.30 second.

      At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, Lange swept the two-man and four-man events. In both races Lange was in the lead after the first heat. Sliding with Kuske in the two-man, the duo's split time slipped to fourth overall in the second heat, but the pair rallied, overtook the lead in the third heat, and did well enough in the fourth heat to win. The four-man race proved no different. Lange, with teammates Kuske, Rene Hoppe, and Martin Putze, finished the first heat in first place and collected the fastest split times in each of the first three heats. Lange was awarded his second consecutive gold medal in four-man bobsleigh, the first time that feat had been achieved since East German pilot Meinhard Nehmer won the four-man event at the 1976 and 1980 Olympic Winter Games. Lange's double-gold-medal performance in Turin had last been accomplished by another East German, Wolfgang Hoppe, at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugos.

Julie Parry

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