Sophia Griebel (born 7 June 1990) is a German

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 has raced at the Winter Olympics and the

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 ...

. She started racing skeleton in 2005 and was selected to the German national team in 2008; she was a

luge A luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine (face up) and feet-first. A luger steers by using the calf muscles to flex the sled's runners or by exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Racing sleds weigh for s ...

r before switching to skeleton. Her personal coach is

Christian Baude Christian Baude (born 6 October 1982) is a German luger who has competed since 2002. He finished ninth in the men's doubles event at the 2008 FIL European Luge Championships in Cesana, Italy. Baude also finished 12th in the men's doubles event ...

and she uses an FES sled. Away from sport, she works for the German

Federal Police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws. Jurisdiction LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction. LEAs ...

. Griebel was injured in 2016 and spent 18 months recovering before returning to the World Cup circuit in November 2017, but after poor showings in the season's first two races, she was replaced on the German World Cup squad by Anna Fernstädt.

Notable results

Griebel began international competition in 2008 on the Europe Cup, finishing 10th in her first race, at St. Moritz. At the 2009

Skeleton Junior World Championships 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 ...

she finished just off the podium in 4th place; that same season saw her take three podium finishes on the Europe Cup, including one gold, taking third place on the tour overall. The following season, she continued to race in the Europe Cup, taking five podiums (three wins) but only ninth at the Junior World Championships. Griebel was promoted to the Intercontinental Cup for the 2010–11 season, earning three gold medals and five silvers on the way to a first-place finish in the ICC season rankings, but only took fifth in the Junior World Championships. Griebel continued to race on the lower levels of sliding until the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season, when she joined the World Cup tour after earning a silver medal at the Junior World Championships. She finished 9th on her first World Cup start, at Altenberg. Griebel started the Olympic season of 2013–14 back on the ICC, earning four consecutive podiums before being promoted once again to the World Cup and earning a place on the German Olympic team 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 ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

. She won the final training run in Sochi, but could only manage a 10th-place finish in the competition proper. Griebel returned the World Cup in 2014–15, earning her best finishes to date with fourth-place results 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 ...

, Altenberg, and

Königssee The Königssee is a natural lake in the extreme southeast Berchtesgadener Land district of the German state of Bavaria, near the Austrian border. Most of the lake is within the Berchtesgaden National Park. Description Situated within the Berchte ...

, but finished a disappointing 12th at her first senior

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. She ended that season ranked sixth in the World Cup rankings, behind two of her German teammates. The following ( 2015–16) season, Griebel finished fourth again at Altenberg and improved her

result to fifth, but then was forced to sit out the entire 2016–17 season due to injury. Returning to the World Cup in 2017–18, another Olympic-shortened season, she fared poorly in two races before being demoted to the ICC squad in favor of Anna Fernstädt.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Griebel, Sophia 1990 births Living people German female skeleton racers Skeleton racers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic skeleton racers of Germany People from Suhl Sportspeople from Thuringia 21st-century German women