Manuel Machata

Manuel Machata

Personal information
Full name	Manuel Machata
Nationality	German
Born	(1984-04-18) April 18, 1984 Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, West Germany
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	230 lb (100 kg)
Website	Team Machata
Sport
Country	Germany
Sport	Bobsleigh (pilot)
Club	SC Potsdam
Turned pro	2005
Medal record Men's Bobsleigh Representing Germany World Championships 2011 Königssee Four-man 2011 Königssee Two-man 2012 Lake Placid Four-man World Cup Championships 2010–11 Four-man 2010–11 Combined 2010–11 Two-man 2011–12 Four-man European Championships 2011 Winterberg Four-man

Manuel Machata (born April 18, 1984) is an German bobsledder who has competed since 2005.

Manuel Machata grew up in Ramsau near Berchtesgaden, Germany. He attended the CJD Christophorus high school in Berchtesgaden. After completing high school he joined the sports group of the German army (Bundeswehr). He became German Junior Champion in both two and four-man and Junior World Champion in four-man bobsled in 2006. Machata started regularly at the European Cup since November 2006 where he won the 2006 and 2007 cups at Königssee and 2007 the four-man in Igls. He was behind Thomas Florschütz in both two and four-man at Königssee 2007 and third in the 2008 two-man championships in Altenberg. He reached second place at the Junior World Championship 2009 at Königssee in both two and four-man bobsled. He decided the European Cup in 2009 for himself and secured his starting place for the 2010/11 World Cup after André Lange's resignation. Although he is ranked in the B-league behind the two A-league drivers Karl Angerer and Thomas Florschütz, he dominated the difficult track in Whistler in a surprise victory in the two-man bobsled with his breakman Andreas Bredau in his World Cup debut. At the following World Cup stop in Calgary he celebrated his maiden victory in the four-man race with his pushers Makarov, Bredau and Poser. On February 20th, 2011 he won silver in two-man at the World Championships Königssee, finishing 0.18 seconds behind Alexsandr Zubkov from Russia. His crowning event was the four-man World Championships on February 27th, 2011 where he finished first and became World Champion.

External links

• Manuel Machata at the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing
• Official Website

References

• "Russia Claims Two-man Bobsleigh", The Globe and Mail, Debruin Lynn (Associated Press), 11 December 2010, retrieved 28 December 2010
• "Germans sweep World Cup 4-man bobsled; Steven Holcomb 5th", USA Today, 5 December 2010, retrieved 28 December 2010
• "Machata leads at halfway stage", Eurosport, 26 February 2011, retrieved 16 January 2012
• "Machata adds four-man gold to tally", Eurosport, 27 February 2011, retrieved 16 January 2012
• "Historic gold for Zubkov", Eurosport, 20 February 2011, retrieved 16 January 2012
• "Manuel Machata", Bobteam Machata, retrieved 16 January 2012