René Spies (born 5 July 1973 in

Winterberg Winterberg ( Westphalian: ''Winnenmerg'') is a town in the Hochsauerland district of North Rhine-Westphalia, central Germany and a major winter sport resort of the Wintersport Arena Sauerland. Geography Winterberg is located in the middle of ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

) is a German

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 competed from 1991 to 2006. He won a bronze medal in the two-man event at the 2003 FIBT World Championships in

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburgh. ...

. Competing in two

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

, Spies earned his best finish of fifth in the four-man event at

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

. His best finish in the

Bobsleigh World Cup The Bobsleigh World Cup is an annual bobsleigh competitions. It has taken place since the 1984 Winter Olympics. Below is a lists of season champions. Each table shows the country and driver only. Combined men's Debuted: 1985. Medal table Two- ...

was second three times (Combined: 2002-3, Two-man: 2000-1, 2002-3). Spies retired from

bobsleigh 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 ...

to become a

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

commentator in

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 ...

, but attempted to return to the German national team for the 2007-08 season without success. He announced his retirement from competition on November 1, 2007 which was announced on the

FIBT The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), originally known by the French name ''Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing'' (FIBT), is the international sports federation for bobsleigh and skeleton. It acts as ...

website.

References

2002 bobsleigh two-man results

FIBT profile (birthdate shown is incorrect)

Official website

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080409025349/http://sports123.com/bob/mwc-2.html List of two-man bobsleigh World Cup champions since 1985* 1973 births Living people People from Winterberg Sportspeople from Arnsberg (region) German male bobsledders Bobsledders at the 2002 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 2006 Winter Olympics Olympic bobsledders for Germany {{Germany-bobsleigh-bio-stub