Silke Kraushaar-Pielach (born Silke Kraushaar on 10 October 1970 in

Sonneberg Sonneberg () in Thuringia, Germany, is the seat of the Sonneberg district. It is in the Franconian south of Thuringia, neighboring its Upper Franconian twin town Neustadt bei Coburg. Sonneberg became known as the "world toy city", and is home ...

Bezirk Suhl The Bezirk Suhl was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Suhl. History The district was established, with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substituting the old German states. After 3 October 1990 i ...

) is a German

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 ...

r who competed from 1995 to 2008. In June 2008, she was named sports manager for the

section of

Bob- und Schlittenverband für Deutschland German Bobsleigh, Luge, and Skeleton Federation (, BSD) is the official federation for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton in Germany. It is the German representative both to the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation and the International Luge F ...

(BSD - German

bobsleigh 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 Bobslei ...

, luge, and

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal fra ...

federation).

Sporting career

Competing in three

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

, Kraushaar-Pielach won a complete set of medals in the women's singles event with a gold in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

(when she beat her team-mate

Barbara Niedernhuber Barbara Niedernhuber (nicknamed Babsi, born 6 June 1974 in Berchtesgaden) is a German luger who competed from 1994 to 2006. She won two silver medals in the women's singles event at the Winter Olympics (1998 (she was beaten by 2 thousandths of a ...

by 2 thousandths of a second), a silver in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, and a bronze in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

. She also won ten medals at the

FIL World Luge Championships The FIL World Luge Championships, part of the International Luge Federation (FIL) have taken place on an almost annual basis in non-Winter Olympics years since 1955. These championships are shown for artificial tracks. See FIL World Luge Natural ...

with four golds (Women's singles:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, Mixed team:

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

), four silvers (Women's singles: 2000, 2001; Mixed team:

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

), and two bronze (Women's singles: 2007,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

). Kraushaar-Pielach won ten medals at the

FIL European Luge Championships The FIL European Luge Championships, part of the International Luge Federation (FIL) have taken place since 1914. From 1914 to 1934, these championships were part of the Internationaler Schlittensportsverband (ISSV - International Sled Sport Federa ...

, including seven golds (Women's singles:

; Mixed team: 1998,

, 2004, 2006) and three silvers (Women's singles:

, 2002,

). She also won the overall

Luge World Cup The Luge World Cup season is a yearly competition first organized by the International Luge Federation since 1977–78. The World Cup is the highest level season-long competition in the sport. Men's singles ;Medals: ;World Cup Stages medals ( ...

five times (1998-9, 2000-1, 2001-2, 2005-6, 2006-7). Kraushaar-Pielach started her last season off with a win in the women's singles event at

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 ...

, on 16 November 2007. Her last race in

Sigulda Sigulda (; ; Polish Zygwold) is a town in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, from the capital city Riga. Overview Sigulda is on a picturesque stretch of the primeval Gauja river valley. Because of the reddish Devonian sandstone which forms steep r ...

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 ...

, on 16 February 2008 saw her finishing third, the same place where she won her first World Cup event on 30 November 1996.

Sports official

In June 2008, Kraushaar-Pielach was named manager of the luge section of the BSD, the German

, and

federation.

Personal life

She married German businessman Michael Pielach on 7 July 2006. It was announced on FIL's website on 24 January 2008 that the sled that she had competed with until 1995 had been auctioned on the German version of

eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...

from 19 to 26 January. Kraushaar-Pielach stated that the proceeds from the auction would be used to benefit young luge. The sled sold for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

1160 and the proceeds went to her sledding club in Oberhof.

References

FIL-Luge August 21, 2006 article on Kraushaar's marriage
- accessed November 24, 2007.

- Accessed January 24, 2008. *[http://www.fil-luge.org/news/news-detail/article/proceeds-of-1160-euro-for-young-luge-talents.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=45&cHash=c2515599cc FIL-Luge January 31, 2008 article on Kraushaar-Pielach's sled being sold.] - Accessed January 31, 2008.
FIL-Luge November 16, 2007 on Kraushaar-Pielach's victory starting her farewell tour.
- accessed February 16, 2008. *[http://www.fil-luge.org/news/news-detail/article/silke-kraushaar-pielach-now-luge-manager-for-german-federation.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=45&cHash=185ec57060 FIL-Luge June 2, 2008 article on Kraushaar-Pielach's transition from athlete to sports official.] - accessed June 13, 2008.
FIL-Luge profile
* * *

*
Official website
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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kraushaar-Pielach, Silke 1970 births Living people People from Sonneberg Sportspeople from Bezirk Suhl German female lugers Lugers from Thuringia East German female lugers German sports executives and administrators Olympic lugers for Germany Lugers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in luge Olympic gold medalists for Germany Olympic silver medalists for Germany Olympic bronze medalists for Germany Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Recipients of the Silver Laurel Leaf 21st-century German sportswomen