Christopher Hedquist (born June 4, 1980,

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

) is an American skeleton racer. In 2004 he won the overall European Cup, becoming the first American ever to win the title. He won gold at the 2005

World University Games The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

, Austria, the inaugural event for skeleton at the Games. He was an alternate in the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

in Torino, Italy and retired following the 2007 World Cup season. Chris initially started competing on ice in the sport of

luge A luge () is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds Supine position, supine (face-up) and feet-first. A luger begins seated, propelling themselves initially from handles on either side of the start ramp, then steers by using the Ca ...

at age 12, but quit to pursue his freestyle skiing endeavors. He switched entirely to

skeleton (sport) Skeleton is a winter sliding sport in which a person rides a small sled, known as a skeleton bobsled (or bobsleigh), down a frozen track while lying face down and head-first. The sport and the sled may have been named from the bony appearance ...

in 2002 following its introduction into the Olympic program. In his rookie season, he won a bronze at the U.S. National Championships, and was the top U.S. finisher at the Junior World Championships 2003 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 ...

where he placed fourth. He started the 2006 Olympic season winning five consecutive gold medals at the European and America's Cup races. Hedquist narrowly missed the qualification for the 2006 Olympic Games in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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 city is main ...

after not competing in the final World Cup Olympic qualifier in Germany, and was named an alternate to the 2006 team. The Olympic selection by the U.S. skeleton federation came on the heels of several controversies including the doping suspension of teammate Zach Lund,ny times Jan. 13, 2006 and firing of the head coach over allegations of sexual harassment. During the games, Hedquist assumed a head coaching position for fellow Irish athlete David Connolly and South African Tyler Botha, who raced to a 20th and 21st place respectively. Since 2006, he starts regularly for the U.S. on the World Cup tour. He finished the 2006/2007 season ranked 7th overall in World Cup points. He participated in his first

FIBT World Championships The IBSF World Championships (known as the FIBT World Championships until 2015), part of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, have taken place on an annual basis since FIBT World Championships 1930, 1930. Starting with 2002, no Wo ...

in 2007 in

St. Moritz St. Moritz ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in the administrative region of Maloja in the Swiss ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where he placed twentieth. Career highlights include: Gold - 2005

in Innsbruck, 2004 Overall European Cup Champion, Bronze - 2003 and 2004 U.S. National Championships, 4th- 2003 Junior World Championships, ranked 7th overall 2006-2007 World Cup

References

U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation biography
Lynn Zinser. NY Times. January 13, 2006 * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20140224045423/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/635164519/Utahs-Hedquist-wins-gold.html?pg=all Utah's Hedquist Wins Goldbr>Skeleton Sport profileiceslider.comFIBT profileUSOC press box
World University Games summary.

2006 Torino Olympic preview. USOC Oct. 31, 2005 ;Notes {{DEFAULTSORT:Hedquist, Christopher 1980 births American male skeleton racers Living people Brigham Young University alumni Sportspeople from Salt Lake City Winter World University Games medalists in skeleton FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States Competitors at the 2005 Winter Universiade 21st-century American sportsmen