Christopher Hedquist

Christopher Hedquist (born June 4, 1980, Salt Lake City, Utah) is an American skeleton racer. In 2004 he won the overall Europa Cup, becoming the first American ever to win the title. He won gold at the 2005 World University Games in Innsbruck, Austria. He was an alternate in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

Chris initially started competing on ice in the sport of luge at age 12, but switched to skeleton (sport) in 2002. In his rookie season he won a bronze medal at the U.S. National Championships, a silver medal at the U.S. Junior Championships, and was the top U.S. finisher at the Junior World Championships 2003 in Königssee where he placed fourth.

The qualification for the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin narrowly missed Hedquist and he was named an alternate to the 2006 team following the doping controversy of teammate Zach Lund,^[1] and firing of the Head Coach over allegations of sexual harassment. During the Games, Hedquist coached fellow Irish athlete David Connolly, and South African Tyler Botha.

Since 2006 he starts regularly in the World Cup. He finished the 2006/2007 season ranked 7th within the overall World Cup. He joined in his first FIBT World Championships in St.Moritz, Switzerland where he placed twentieth.

Career highlights include: Bronze Medal 2003 U.S. National Championships, 4th 2003 Junior World Championships, 2004 Overall European Cup Champion, Gold 2005 World Universiade, 7th overall 2006-2007 World Cup

References

• U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation biography
• Skeleton Sport profile
• iceslider.com
• FIBT profile
• Distractions are becoming obstacles to the skeleton team Lynn Zinser. NY Times. January 13, 2006
• USOC press box World University Games summary.
• USOC Olympic preview 2006 Torino Olympic preview. USOC Oct. 31, 2005

References

1. ^ ny times Jan. 13, 2006

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Name	Hedquist, Christopher
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Date of birth	June 4, 1980
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