Antony Lee "Tony" Benshoof (born July 7, 1975) is an American luger from

White Bear Lake, Minnesota White Bear Lake is a city in Ramsey County in the state of Minnesota, United States. A small portion of the city also extends into Washington County. The population was 23,769 at the 2010 census. The city is located on White Bear Lake, one o ...

who has been competing since 1990. He won three medals in the mixed team event at the

FIL World Luge Championships The FIL World Luge Championships, part of the International Luge Federation (FIL) have taken place on an almost annual basis in non-Winter Olympics years since 1955. These championships are shown for artificial tracks. See FIL World Luge Natural ...

with two silvers ( 2004, 2005) and one bronze ( 2001). Benshoof was born in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

. Competing in three

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 ...

, Benshoof earned his best finish of fourth by .153 seconds in the men's singles event at

Turin Turin ( , 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 from 1861 to 1865. The ...

in 2006. He was the highest Olympic finisher for any USA Luge athlete in Men's Singles Luge prior to Chris Mazdzer's silver medal in the 2018 Pyeong Chang olympics. Benshoof also holds records for most international medals won (37) by any USA Men's Singles athlete and most US National titles won. Every medal Benshoof won was under head coach Wolfgang Schädler (1985–2010). On October 16, 2001, Benshoof became the Guinness World Record holder for fastest speed on a luge sled at 86.6 mph (139.4 km/h) at the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track in

Park City, Utah Park City is a city in Utah, United States. The vast majority is in Summit County, and it extends into Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake Cit ...

, used for the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

. His best

Luge World Cup The Luge World Cup season is a yearly competition first organized by the International Luge Federation The International Luge Federation ( French: Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (FIL); German: Internationaler Rennrodelverband) is ...

overall finish was third in men's singles in 2005-6.

References

FIL-Luge profileHickok sports information on World champions in luge and skeleton.Official websiteUSA luge team profile

External links

* * * * * 1975 births Living people American male lugers Olympic lugers for the United States Lugers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Saint Paul, Minnesota {{US-luge-bio-stub