Oskars Melbārdis (born 16 February 1988) is a former Latvian bobsledder who has competed since 2006. He is the most successful bobsledder in the history of his country, having won one gold and two bronze Olympic medals. He also earned the first-ever gold medal for Latvia at

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Igls 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 ...

, preceded by one silver and two bronze medals in 2009–2015.

Career review

Melbārdis started his career as a brakeman, most notably competing along Jānis Miņins, however starting from 2010–11 season Melbārdis has been competing as a pilot. He won a gold medal in the four-man event at the

FIBT World Championships 2016 The IBSF World Championships 2016 took place at the Olympic Sliding Centre Innsbruck in Igls, Austria, from 8 to 21 February 2016. Schedule Six events were held. ''All times are local (UTC+1).'' Medal summary Medal table Bobsleigh Skeleto ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

with teammates Daumants Dreiškens, Arvis Vilkaste and Jānis Strenga. It was the first ever World Championships gold medal in bobsled for

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. He won a silver medal in the two-man event at the FIBT World Championships 2015 in

Winterberg Winterberg (; Westphalian: ''Winnenmerg'') is a town in the Hochsauerland district of North Rhine-Westphalia, central Germany and a major winter sport resort of the Wintersport Arena Sauerland. Geography Winterberg is located in the middle ...

and two bronze medals in the four-man events at the

FIBT World Championships 2009 The FIBT World Championships 2009, officially known as the Bauhaus FIBT Bobsleigh & Skeleton World Championships, February 20 to March 1, 2009, at the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track in Lake Placid, New York, for the ninth time, doing so prev ...

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, Essex County, New York (state), New York, United States. In 2020, its population was 2,205. The village of Lake Placid ...

, and at the FIBT World Championships 2015. He won a gold medal at the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

in the four-man event in Sochi and won a bronze medal in the two-man event. He won

Bobsleigh European Championship The European Bobsleigh and Skeleton Championships are the main bobsleigh and skeleton championships in Europe. The first bobsleigh European Championships with two-man event was held in 1929 in Davos, Switzerland. However, as Bobsleigh World Champi ...

four-man events in 2008 and 2015 and finished 3rd in the four-man event in 2016 and 2018. Melbārdis also finished 2nd in the two-man event in the 2015 Bobsleigh European Championship. Melbārdis won a combined Bobsleigh World Cup title in 2012–13 and 2014–15. He won two-man and four-man World Cup titles in 2014–15 when he had 15 (from 16) podium finishes in two-man and four-man events, including seven first places.

Highlights

Bob-Pilot

*(Not complete list of results)

World Championships

:2016 –

, 1st

at 4-bob :2015 –

, 2nd

at 2-bob :2015 –

, 3rd

at 4-bob :2013 –

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 ...

, 5th at 2-bob with Dreiškens :2013 –

, 9th at 4-bob with Dreiškens / Vilkaste / Strenga :2012 – Lake Placid, 8th at 2-bob with Dreiškens

World Cup

:2013/14 –

, 1st at 4-bob with Dreiškens / Vilkaste / Strenga :2013/14 –

, 1st at 4-bob with Dreiškens / Vilkaste / Strenga :2012/13 –

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

, 1st at 4-bob with Dreiškens / Vilkaste / Strenga :2012/13 –

, 3rd at 2-bob with Dreiškens :2012/13 –

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 ...

, 2nd at 2-bob with Dreiškens :2012/13 –

, 3rd at 4-bob Dreiškens / Vilkaste / Strenga :2012/13 – Park City, 4th at 2-bob with Dreiškens :2011/12 –

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

, 4th at 4-bob with Lūsis / Vilkaste / Strenga :2011–12 –

, 4th at 4-bob with Lūsis / Vilkaste / Strenga :2011/12 –

, 3rd at 4-bob with Lūsis / Vilkaste / Strenga :2011/12 –

, 3rd at 2-bob with Dreiškens :2011/12 –

, 4th at 2-bob with Dreiškens

European Championships

:2015 –

La Plagne La Plagne () is a French ski area in the Alps, alpine valley of the Tarentaise Valley, Tarentaise (Savoie). Since 2003, La Plagne and the neighbouring resort of Les Arcs form the Paradiski ski area. It is currently owned by Compagnie des Alpes. ...

, 1st

at 4-bob :2015 –

2nd

at 2-bob

Junior World Championships

:2012 –

, 1st

at 2-bob with Strenga :2012 –

, 1st

at 4-bob with Lūsis / Vilkaste / Strenga

Brakeman

World Championships

:2009 – Lake Placid, 3rd Bronze_medal_world_centered-2

at 4-bob with Miņins / Dreiškens / Dambis

World Cup

:2009/10 – Park City, 2nd at 4-bob with Miņins / Dreiškens / Dambis :2008/09 – Park City, 2nd at 4-bob with Miņins / Dreiškens / Dambis :2008–09 – Park City, 2nd at 4-bob with Miņins / Dreiškens / Dambis :2008/09 – Whistler, 1st at 4-bob with Miņins / Dreiškens / Dambis :2008/09 –

, 3rd at 4-bob with Miņins / Dreiškens / Dambis :2007/08 –

, 1st at 4-bob with Miņins / Dreiškens / Dambis :2007/08 – Cesana, 1st at 4-bob with Miņins / Dreiškens / Dambis

European Championships

:2008 – Cesana, 1st Gold_medal_world_centered-2

at 4-bob with Miņins / Dreiškens / Dambis

Career results

Olympic Games

*3 medals (1 gold, 2 bronze)

Bobsleigh World Cup

Season titles

*4 globes (2 overall, 1 two-man, 1 four-man)

Two-man

Four-man

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Melbazrdis, Oskars Living people 1988 births Sportspeople from Valmiera Latvian male bobsledders Bobsledders at the 2014 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic bobsledders for Latvia Olympic medalists in bobsleigh Olympic gold medalists for Latvia Olympic bronze medalists for Latvia Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics