Marcel Lopuchovský (born 2 May 1977 in

Košice Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...

) is a former Slovak

bobsledder Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed speed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsle ...

and sprinter who works as a fitness and Olympics coach.

Early life

Lopuchovský was born on 2 May 1977 in Košice. He did athletics for a maximum of twelve years and learnt how to sprint quickly. Lopuchovský developed an interest in bobsleigh after watching ''

Cool Runnings ''Cool Runnings'' is a 1993 American sports comedy film directed by Jon Turteltaub from a screenplay by Lynn Siefert, Tommy Swerdlow, and Michael Goldberg, and a story by Siefert and Michael Ritchie. It is loosely based on the debut of the J ...

''. He was offered to try the sport whilst in

Königssee The Königssee () is a natural lake in the 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 Bercht ...

, Germany.

Career

Sprinter

As a sprinter, Lopuchovský debuted at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

as a member of the Slovak 4x400m relay team. He later competed at the

2002 IAAF World Cup The 9th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was hosted by Madrid, September 21–22, 2002, in the Estadio La Peineta. The team win ...

, finishing fourth place with 400 m heats and ran a personal record of 47.40 in Vienna. Lopuchovský went on to finish fifth place during the 400 m event in Szombathely.

Bobsleigh

At the

2008–09 Bobsleigh World Cup The 2008–09 Bobsleigh World Cup was a multi race tournament over a season for bobsleigh. The season started on 24 November 2008 in Winterberg and ended on 14 February 2009 in Park City, Utah. The World Cup was organised by the FIBT who also run ...

, Lopuchovský teamed up with Milan Jagnešák in the two-man bobsleigh, finishing eighth place. During the seventh round of

2009–10 Bobsleigh World Cup The 2009–10 Bobsleigh World Cup was a multi race tournament over a season for bobsleigh. The season started on 12 November 2009 in Park City, Utah, United States and ended on 24 January 2010 in Igls, Austria (southeast of Innsbruck). The World Cu ...

, Lopuchovský teamed up with Jagnešák, David Rolet, and Andrej Benda in the four-man bobsleigh category. They finished the worst position at 29th place. At the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

, Lopuchovský crashed out during the first run of the four-man event.

References

External links

* * 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Košice Athletes from the Košice Region Slovak male bobsledders Slovak male sprinters Olympic athletes for Slovakia Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic bobsledders for Slovakia Bobsledders at the 2010 Winter Olympics 21st-century Slovak sportsmen {{Slovakia-bobsleigh-bio-stub