Christopher Spring
Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia | 6 March 1984
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
Weight | 101 kg (223 lb) |
Sport | |
Country | Australia (2008–2010) Canada (2010–present) |
Sport | Bobsleigh |
Christopher Spring (born 6 March 1984) is an Australian-born Canadian bobsledder who has competed since 2008. At the 2010 Winter Olympics, he competed for his country of birth Australia and finished 22nd in the two-man event. He switched allegiance to Canada later in 2010.
Career
Spring competed for Australia and finished 29th in the two-man event at the FIBT World Championships 2009 in Lake Placid.
Since switching to represent Canada in 2010, Spring has finished first on several occasions in both the two-man and four-man events on the Americas Cup Circuit.
Spring debuted on the World Cup tour for Canada in 2011 finishing 17th in the two-man event in Cesana, Italy. He finished 19th in the two-man event with brakeman Timothy Randall and 14th in the four-man event with teammates Timothy Randall, Derek Plug & Graeme Rinholm at the FIBT World Championships 2011 in Königssee, Germany.
He was involved in a catastrophic crash in January 2012 during the 2011–12 Bobsleigh World Cup in Altenberg, Germany which put him in hospital for eight days.[1] After having his skin shredded and a piece of wood the size of a kitchen knife embedded in his back, Spring considered retiring but later returned to the track in April 2012.[1] He said of his fear of lost skills on his return that "I was really afraid I'd get back in the driver's seat and not know what to do. Or I would get halfway down the track and start freaking out." Yet he said that he felt few ill effects.[1]
In January 2022, Spring was named to Canada's 2022 Olympic team.[2][3][4]
References
- ^ a b c Steve Zemek (8 May 2012). "Spring relives crash horror". Gladstone Observer. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
- ^ "21 bobsleigh and skeleton athletes nominated to represent Team Canada in Beijing". www.bobsleighcanadaskeleton.c. Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton. 20 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- ^ Nichols, Paula (20 January 2022). "18 bobsleigh and 3 skeleton athletes to be on Team Canada at Beijing 2022". www.olympic.ca/. Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- ^ Smart, Zack (20 January 2022). "Kripps, de Bruin, Appiah headline formidable Canadian bobsleigh team at Beijing Games". www.cbc.ca/. CBC Sports. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
External links
- Christopher Spring at the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation
- Christopher Spring at Olympics.com
- Christopher Spring at Team Canada
- Chris Spring at the Australian Olympic Committee
- Chris Spring at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- 1984 births
- Australian male bobsledders
- Canadian male bobsledders
- Bobsledders at the 2010 Winter Olympics
- Bobsledders at the 2014 Winter Olympics
- Bobsledders at the 2018 Winter Olympics
- Bobsledders at the 2022 Winter Olympics
- Living people
- Olympic bobsledders of Australia
- Olympic bobsledders of Canada
- Australian emigrants to Canada
- Naturalized citizens of Canada
- Bobsleigh biography stubs
- Australian winter sports biography stubs
- Canadian bobsleigh biography stubs