Silke Kraushaar-Pielach

Silke Kraushaar-Pielach
Kraushaar-Pielach in 2018
Personal information
Born (1970-10-10) 10 October 1970
Sonneberg, Bezirk Suhl, East Germany
Medal record
Women's luge
Representing  Germany
Olympic Games
1998 Nagano Women's singles
2006 Turin Women's singles
2002 Salt Lake City Women's singles
World Championships
2000 St. Moritz Mixed team
2001 Calgary Mixed team
2004 Nagano Women's singles
2007 Igls Mixed team
1997 Igls Mixed team
1999 Königssee Mixed team
2000 St. Moritz Women's singles
2001 Calgary Women's singles
2007 Igls Women's singles
2008 Oberhof Women's singles
World Cup Championships
1998-99 Women's singles
2000-01 Women's singles
2001-02 Women's singles
2005-06 Women's singles
2006-07 Women's singles
1997-98 Women's singles
1999-00 Women's singles
2002-03 Women's singles
2003-04 Women's singles
2004-05 Women's singles
2007-08 Women's singles
European Championships
1998 Oberhof Women's singles
1998 Oberhof Mixed team
2002 Altenberg Mixed team
2004 Oberhof Women's singles
2004 Oberhof Mixed team
2006 Winterberg Women's singles
2006 Winterberg Mixed team
2000 Winterberg Women's singles
2002 Altenberg Women's singles
2008 Cesana Women's singles

Silke Kraushaar-Pielach (born Silke Kraushaar on 10 October 1970 in Sonneberg, Bezirk Suhl) is a German luger who competed from 1995 to 2008. In June 2008, she was named sports manager for the luge section of Bob- und Schlittenverband für Deutschland (BSD - German bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton federation).

Sporting career

Competing in three Winter Olympics, Kraushaar-Pielach won a complete set of medals in the women's singles event with a gold in 1998 (when she beat her team-mate Barbara Niedernhuber by 2 thousandths of a second), a silver in 2006, and a bronze in 2002.

She also won ten medals at the FIL World Luge Championships with four golds (Women's singles: 2004, Mixed team: 2000, 2001, 2007), four silvers (Women's singles: 2000, 2001; Mixed team: 1997, 1999), and two bronze (Women's singles: 2007, 2008).

Kraushaar-Pielach won ten medals at the FIL European Luge Championships, including seven golds (Women's singles: 1998, 2004, 2006; Mixed team: 1998, 2000, 2004, 2006) and three silvers (Women's singles: 2000, 2002, 2008).

She also won the overall Luge World Cup 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, on 16 November 2007. Her last race in Sigulda, Latvia, 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 bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton 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 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 1160 and the proceeds went to her sledding club in Oberhof.

References