Sandra Kiriasis ( 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. In July 2014 Kiriasis joined basketball team Nürnberger BC as a fitness coach. 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. 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.
Career highlights
Olympic Winter Games 2002 – Salt Lake City, 2nd with Ulrike Holzner 2006 – Turin, 1st with Anja Schneiderheinze 2018 – PyeongChang, Former coach of the women's Jamaican bobsled team. World Championships 2003 – Winterberg, 2nd with Ulrike Holzner 2004 – Königssee, 2nd with Anja Schneiderheinze 2005 – Calgary, 1st with Anja Schneiderheinze 2007 – St. Moritz, 1st with Romy Logsch 2008 – Altenberg, 1st with Romy Logsch European Championships 2005 – Altenberg, 2nd with Anja Schneiderheinze 2006 – St. Moritz, 1st with Berit Wiacker 2007 – Cortina d'Ampezzo, 1st with Romy Logsch 2008 – Cesana, 1st with Berit Wiacker 2009 – St. Moritz, 1st with Berit Wiacker World Cup Single Events 2000/2001 – Winterberg, 2nd with Daniela Clobes 2000/2001 – Winterberg, 3rd with Daniela Clobes 2000/2001 – Igls, 2nd with Kerstin Szymkowiak 2000/2001 – Igls, 2nd with Kerstin Szymkowiak 2000/2001 – Park City, 1st with Ulrike Holzner 2001/2002 – Winterberg, 1st with Ulrike Holzner 2001/2002 – Winterberg, 1st with Ulrike Holzner 2001/2002 – Königssee, 1st with Nicole Herschmann 2001/2002 – Igls, 1st with Ulrike Holzner 2001/2002 – Igls, 1st with Nicole Herschmann 2001/2002 – Calgary, 3rd with Ulrike Holzner 2001/2002 – Calgary, 3rd with Ulrike Holzner 2002/2003 – Calgary, 2nd with Ulrike Holzner 2002/2003 – Calgary, 1st with Ulrike Holzner 2002/2003 – Park City, 1st with Nicole Herschmann 2002/2003 – Park City, 1st with Ulrike Holzner 2002/2003 – Lake Placid, 1st with Ulrike Holzner 2002/2003 – Lake Placid, 1st with Nicole Herschmann 2002/2003 – Igls, 2nd with Nicole Herschmann 2002/2003 – Igls, 2nd with Ulrike Holzner 2003/2004 – Calgary, 1st with Anja Schneiderheinze 2003/2004 – Calgary, 1st with Janine Tischer 2003/2004 – Lake Placid, 1st with Anja Schneiderheinze 2003/2004 – Lake Placid, 2nd with Janine Tischer 2003/2004 – Lillehammer, 1st with Anja Schneiderheinze 2003/2004 – Lillehammer, 1st with Berit Wiacker 2004/2005 – Winterberg, 1st with Anja Schneiderheinze 2004/2005 – Altenberg, 2nd with Anja Schneiderheinze 2004/2005 – Igls, 1st with Berit Wiacker 2004/2005 – Cortina d'Ampezzo, 1st with Berit Wiacker 2004/2005 – Cesana, 1st with Berit Wiacker 2004/2005 – Lake Placid, 1st with Anja Schneiderheinze 2005/2006 – Calgary, 1st with Anja Schneiderheinze 2005/2006 – Lake Placid, 1st with Anja Schneiderheinze 2005/2006 – Igls, 1st with Berit Wiacker 2005/2006 – Cortina d'Ampezzo, 1st with Anja Schneiderheinze 2005/2006 – Königssee, 3rd with Anja Schneiderheinze 2005/2006 – St. Moritz, 2nd with Berit Wiacker 2006/2007 – Calgary, 3rd with Romy Logsch 2006/2007 – Lake Placid, 3rd with Anja Schneiderheinze 2006/2007 – Cortina d'Ampezzo, 1st with Romy Logsch 2006/2007 – Igls, 1st with Anja Schneiderheinze 2006/2007 – Cesana, 1st with Anja Schneiderheinze 2006/2007 – Winterberg, 1st with Romy Logsch 2006/2007 – Königssee, 1st with Berit Wiacker 2007/2008 – Calgary, 3rd with Berit Wiacker 2007/2008 – Park City, 1st with Romy Logsch 2007/2008 – Lake Placid, 1st with Romy Logsch 2007/2008 – Cortina d'Ampezzo, 1st with Romy Logsch 2007/2008 – Cesana, 3rd with Berit Wiacker 2007/2008 – St. Moritz, 1st with Romy Logsch 2007/2008 – Königssee, 2nd with Berit Wiacker 2007/2008 – Winterberg, 1st with Berit Wiacker 2008/2009 – Winterberg, 2nd with Romy Logsch 2008/2009 – Altenberg, 1st with Berit Wiacker 2008/2009 – Igls, 3rd with Romy Logsch 2008/2009 – Königssee, 2nd with Romy Logsch 2008/2009 – St. Moritz, 1st with Berit Wiacker 2008/2009 – St. Moritz, 1st with Berit Wiacker 2008/2009 – Park City, 3rd with Patricia Polifka
References
Bobsleigh two-woman Olympic medalists since 2002 Bobsleigh two-woman world championship medalists since 2000 Mixed bobsleigh-skeleton world championship medalists since 2007 List of two-woman bobsleigh World Cup champions since 1995 NBCOlympics.com profile