Christopher Spring (born 6 March 1984) is an Australian-Canadian 4 x Olympic

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 ...

der who has competed since 2008. At 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 ...

, 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 , ''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 ...

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

and the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

for Canada.

Career

Spring competed for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

over three seasons and finished 29th in the two-man event at the

FIBT World Championships 2009 The FIBT World Championships 2009, officially known as the Bauhaus FIBT Bobsleigh & Skeleton World Championships, February 20 to March 1, 2009, at the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track in Lake Placid, New York, for the ninth time, doing so prev ...

in Lake Placid. He later went on to finish 22nd in the two-man event at the Vancouver

Since switching to represent

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

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 Jesse Lumsden (born August 3, 1982) is a Canadian Olympic bobsledder and a retired Canadian football player, who played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Edmonton Eskimos and Calgary Stampeders. Career Football Lumsden is the son of former CFL fullba ...

. Spring debuted on the World Cup tour for

in 2011, finishing 17th in the two-man event in

Cesana Cesana Torinese (French ''Césanne'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about west of Turin, on the border with France. Cesana is a popular winter ski resort, being connected ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. He was involved in a catastrophic crash in January 2012 during the

2011–12 Bobsleigh World Cup The 2011–12 Bobsleigh World Cup is a multi race tournament over a season for bobsleigh. The season started on 2 December 2011 in Igls, Austria and ended on 11 February 2012 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The World Cup is organised by the FIBT who ...

in Altenberg,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, which put him in hospital for eight days. 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. 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. In January 2022, Spring was named to Canada's 2022 Olympic team.

Career highlights

;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 , ''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 ...

, two-man

References

External links

* * * * * * * 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 {{Canada-bobsleigh-bio-stub