Sandra Kiriasis

Sandra Kiriasis
Personal information
NationalityGerman
Born (1975-01-04) 4 January 1975 (age 49)[1]
Dresden, East Germany
Height1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Weight81 kg (179 lb; 12.8 st)[1]
Sport
Country Germany
Sport Bobsleigh
Event2-woman
ClubRSG Hochsauerland
Retired2014
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals 1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Medal record
Women's bobsleigh
Representing  Germany
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2006 Turin Two-woman
Silver medal – second place 2002 Salt Lake City Two-woman
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2005 Calgary Two-woman
Gold medal – first place 2007 St. Moritz Two-woman
Gold medal – first place 2007 St. Moritz Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2008 Altenberg Two-woman
Gold medal – first place 2008 Altenberg Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2009 Lake Placid Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2011 Königssee Mixed team
Silver medal – second place 2003 Winterberg Two-woman
Silver medal – second place 2004 Königssee Two-woman
Silver medal – second place 2012 Lake Placid Two-woman
Silver medal – second place 2012 Lake Placid Mixed team
Silver medal – second place 2013 St. Moritz Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2013 St. Moritz Two-woman
World Cup Championships
Gold medal – first place 2003–04 Two-woman
Gold medal – first place 2004–05 Two-woman
Gold medal – first place 2005–06 Two-woman
Gold medal – first place 2006–07 Two-woman
Gold medal – first place 2007–08 Two-woman
Gold medal – first place 2008–09 Two-woman
Gold medal – first place 2009–10 Two-woman
Gold medal – first place 2010–11 Two-woman
Silver medal – second place 2000–01 Two-woman
Silver medal – second place 2001–02 Two-woman
Silver medal – second place 2002–03 Two-woman
Silver medal – second place 2013-13 Two-woman
Bronze medal – third place 2011–12 Two-woman
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2006 St. Moritz Two-woman
Gold medal – first place 2007 Cortina d'Ampezzo Two-woman
Gold medal – first place 2008 Cesana Two-woman
Gold medal – first place 2009 St. Moritz Two-woman
Gold medal – first place 2011 Winterberg Two-woman
Gold medal – first place 2013 Innsbruck-Igls Two-woman
Silver medal – second place 2005 Altenberg Two-woman
Silver medal – second place 2012 Altenberg Two-woman
Silver medal – second place 2014 Königgsee Two-woman
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Innsbruck-Igls Two-woman
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Sandra Kiriasis (née Prokoff; born 4 January 1975 in Dresden) is a German former bobsledder who has competed from 2000 to 2014.

At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City she won silver in the two-woman event together with teammate Ulrike Holzner. She also competed in the bobsleigh events at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, where Kiriasis (married in late 2004) won gold in the two-woman event with teammate Anja Schneiderheinze. She finished fourth in the two-woman event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Kiriasis also won eight medals at the FIBT World Championships with five golds (Two-woman: 2005, 2007, 2008; Mixed team: 2007, 2008, 2009) and two silvers (Two-woman: 2003, 2004). She won the overall two-woman Bobsleigh World Cup in 2003-4, 2004–5, 2005–6, 2006-7, 2007-8, 2008-9, 2009–10, 2010–11 and won a record 43 World Cup races in total.

Kiriasis retired from the sport after the 2014 Winter Olympics.[2] In July 2014 Kiriasis joined basketball team Nürnberger BC as a fitness coach.[3] In 2017 she was appointed as driving coach for the Jamaican women's bobsleigh team ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, helping them to qualify for the Olympics for the first time.[4][5] However, she parted company with the Jamaica Bobsleigh Federation days ahead of the start of bobsleigh training at the Games after she was told she would be demoted from her position as driver coach to the role of track and performance analyst.[6][7]

  1. ^ a b c d FIBT-Bobsleigh profile[permanent dead link], accessed 9 December 2010
  2. ^ "Kiriasis kritisiert Bob-Verband für Machata-Sperre: "Beschämend und lächerlich"" [Kiriasis criticised Bobsleigh Association for Machata ban: "Shameful and Ridiculous"]. Freie Presse (Saxony) (in German). 4 March 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  3. ^ "Sandra Kiriasis bringt Nürnbergs Basketballer in Form" [Sandra Kiriasis brings Nuremberg Basketball players into shape]. 2. Basketball Bundesliga (in German). 25 July 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  4. ^ Scott, Livingston (13 December 2017). "Bobsleigh Team Has Top Level Support". Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  5. ^ Keyser, Hannah (16 January 2018). "Thirty Years After Cool Runnings, Jamaican Women Qualify For Olympic Bobsled". Deadspin. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  6. ^ Thompson, Anna (14 February 2018). "Winter Olympics: Jamaica's women's bobsleigh coach Sandra Kiriasis quits". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  7. ^ Grohmann, Karolos (15 February 2018). Stutchbury, Greg (ed.). "Bobsleigh: No reason given for my Jamaica team demotion, says Kiriasis". reuters.com. Retrieved 25 February 2018.