Bree Schaaf (born May 28, 1980) is an American

skeleton racer Skeleton is a winter sliding sport in which a person rides a small sled, known as a skeleton bobsled (or -sleigh), down a frozen track while lying face down and head-first. The sport and the sled may have been named from the bony appearance of ...

who competed from 2002 to 2007, then switched over to

bobsled Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

as a pilot from 2007 to 2014. Her best

Skeleton World Cup The Skeleton World Cup season is a yearly competition first organized by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), originally known by the French name ''Fédération Internati ...

finish was sixth at

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

in November 2006.

Early years

In high school, she competed in track, volleyball, and basketball before playing volleyball exclusively. She earned a scholarship for volleyball and played collegiately at

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. Schaaf graduated with high honors and a BA in anthropology.

Sledding

Schaaf's best finish in skeleton at the

FIBT World Championships The IBSF World Championships (known as the FIBT World Championships until 2015), part of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, have taken place on an annual basis since 1930. Starting with 2002, championships of non-Winter Olympic ...

was 11th in the women's event at St. Moritz in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

. She switched to bobsled for 2007–8, starting on lower racing circuits before qualifying to race World Cup in 2009 after winning the 2009 US National Championship in bobsled. Bree also finished 4th at the Bobsled World Cup in Park City, Utah in November 2009. She also took 6th at the 2009 World Cup Whistler track debut, and 5th at the February 2009 World Cup race in Park City, with 9 top-ten world cup finishes in total. It was announced on January 16, 2010, that she made the US bobsled team for the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

. She finished fifth in the two-woman event.

Broadcasting

In 2009 Schaaf started work as a sliding commentator for

Universal Sports Network Universal Sports was an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network. It was owned as a joint venture between InterMedia Partners (which owned a controlling 92% interest) and NBCUniversal (which owned the remaining 8%). ...

. She joined NBC's team at

Sliding Center Sanki The Sliding Center Sanki (Санки) (a.k.a. the Sanki Sliding Center) is a bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track located in Rzhanaya Polyana, Russia, 60 km (37 mi) northeast of Sochi. Located in the Western Caucasus. The venue hosted the ...

for the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

References

;Notes ;Bibliography
16 January 2010 US Bobsled and Skeleton Federation announcement of the US Olympic women's bobsled team.
- accessed 18 January 2010. * * 1980 births Living people American female bobsledders American female skeleton racers Bobsledders at the 2010 Winter Olympics Olympic bobsledders for the United States Portland State University alumni Sportspeople from Bremerton, Washington 21st-century American women {{Skeleton-bio-stub