Oskars Melbārdis

Oskars Melbārdis (born 16 February 1988) is a former Latvian bobsledder who has competed since 2006.^[1] He is the most successful bobsledder in the history of his country, having won one gold and two bronze Olympic medals. He also earned the first-ever gold medal for Latvia at World Championships in Igls, preceded by one silver and two bronze medals in 2009–2015.

Oskars Melbārdis

Melbārdis in 2014 on his return from the 2014 Winter Olympics
Personal information
Nationality	Latvian
Born	(1988-02-16) 16 February 1988 (age 36)[1] Valmiera, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union (now Valmiera, Latvia)[2]
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Sport
Country	Latvia
Sport	Bobsleigh
Team	Latvian National Team
Turned pro	2006
Coached by	Sandis Prūsis[1]
Retired	2021
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals	(2014)
World finals	(2016)
Highest world ranking	1st (2015)
Medal record Olympic Games 2014 Sochi Four-man 2014 Sochi Two-man 2018 Pyeongchang Two-man World Championships 2016 Igls Four-man 2015 Winterberg Two-man 2009 Lake Placid Four-man 2015 Winterberg Four-man European Championship 2008 Cesena Four-man 2015 La Plagne Four-man 2015 La Plagne Two-man 2016 St. Moritz Four-man 2018 Igls Four-man

Career review

Melbārdis started his career as a brakeman, most notably competing along Jānis Miņins, however starting from 2010–11 season Melbārdis has been competing as a pilot. He won a gold medal in the four-man event at the FIBT World Championships 2016 in Igls, Austria with teammates Daumants Dreiškens, Arvis Vilkaste and Jānis Strenga. It was the first ever World Championships gold medal in bobsled for Latvia.^[3]

He won a silver medal in the two-man event at the FIBT World Championships 2015 in Winterberg and two bronze medals in the four-man events at the FIBT World Championships 2009 in Lake Placid, New York, and at the FIBT World Championships 2015.

He won a gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in the four-man event in Sochi and won a bronze medal in the two-man event.

He won Bobsleigh European Championship four-man events in 2008 and 2015 and finished 3rd in the four-man event in 2016 and 2018. Melbārdis also finished 2nd in the two-man event in the 2015 Bobsleigh European Championship.

Melbārdis won a combined Bobsleigh World Cup title in 2012–13 and 2014–15. He won two-man and four-man World Cup titles in 2014–15 when he had 15 (from 16) podium finishes in two-man and four-man events, including seven first places.

Highlights

Bob-Pilot

• (Not complete list of results)

World Championships

2016 – Igls, 1st at 4-bob

2015 – Winterberg, 2nd at 2-bob

2015 – Winterberg, 3rd at 4-bob

2013 – St. Moritz, 5th at 2-bob with Dreiškens

2013 – St. Moritz, 9th at 4-bob with Dreiškens / Vilkaste / Strenga

2012 – Lake Placid, 8th at 2-bob with Dreiškens

World Cup

2013/14 – Igls, 1st at 4-bob with Dreiškens / Vilkaste / Strenga

2013/14 – St. Moritz, 1st at 4-bob with Dreiškens / Vilkaste / Strenga

2012/13 – Sochi, 1st at 4-bob with Dreiškens / Vilkaste / Strenga

2012/13 – Sochi, 3rd at 2-bob with Dreiškens

2012/13 – Königssee, 2nd at 2-bob with Dreiškens

2012/13 – Winterberg, 3rd at 4-bob Dreiškens / Vilkaste / Strenga

2012/13 – Park City, 4th at 2-bob with Dreiškens

2011/12 – Calgary, 4th at 4-bob with Lūsis / Vilkaste / Strenga

2011–12 – Königssee, 4th at 4-bob with Lūsis / Vilkaste / Strenga

2011/12 – Winterberg, 3rd at 4-bob with Lūsis / Vilkaste / Strenga

2011/12 – Winterberg, 3rd at 2-bob with Dreiškens

2011/12 – Igls, 4th at 2-bob with Dreiškens

European Championships

2015 – La Plagne, 1st at 4-bob

2015 – La Plagne 2nd at 2-bob

Junior World Championships

2012 – Igls, 1st at 2-bob with Strenga

2012 – Igls, 1st at 4-bob with Lūsis / Vilkaste / Strenga

Brakeman

World Championships

2009 – Lake Placid, 3rd at 4-bob with Miņins / Dreiškens / Dambis

World Cup

2009/10 – Park City, 2nd at 4-bob with Miņins / Dreiškens / Dambis

2008/09 – Park City, 2nd at 4-bob with Miņins / Dreiškens / Dambis

2008–09 – Park City, 2nd at 4-bob with Miņins / Dreiškens / Dambis

2008/09 – Whistler, 1st at 4-bob with Miņins / Dreiškens / Dambis

2008/09 – Königssee, 3rd at 4-bob with Miņins / Dreiškens / Dambis

2007/08 – Winterberg, 3rd at 4-bob with Miņins / Dreiškens / Dambis

2007/08 – St. Moritz, 1st at 4-bob with Miņins / Dreiškens / Dambis

2007/08 – Cesana, 1st at 4-bob with Miņins / Dreiškens / Dambis

European Championships

2008 – Cesana, 1st at 4-bob with Miņins / Dreiškens / Dambis

Career results

Olympic Games

• 3 medals (1 gold, 2 bronze)

Event	Two-man	Four-man
Representing  Latvia
2014 Sochi	3	1
2018 Pyeongchang	3	5

Bobsleigh World Cup

Season titles

• 4 globes (2 overall, 1 two-man, 1 four-man)

Season
	Discipline
2013	Combined
2015	Combined
	Two-man
	Four-man

Two-man

Season	Place	Points	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
2010–11	21st	780	WHI —	CAL —	PKC —	LKP —	IGL 17	WIN —	STM 9	CES 14
2011–12	7th	1360	IGL 4	LPL 9	WIN 3	ALT 6	KON 9	STM 9	WHI —	CAL 6
2012–13	2nd	1674	LKP 8	PKC 4	WHI 14	WIN 7	LPL 5	ALT 5	KON 2	IGL 4	SOC 3
2013–14	12th	1080	CAL 5	PKC 6	LKP1 10	LKP2 10	WIN 10	STM 13	IGL 7	KON DSQ
2014–15	1st	1684	LKP 2	CAL 1	ALT 2	KON 5	STM 1	LPL 2	IGL 2	SOC 2
2015–16	5th	1334	ALT 2	WIN 2	KON1 2	LPL —	WHI1 5	WHI2 4	STM 10	KON2 5
2016–17	16th	810	WHI —	LPL —	ALT 13	WIN —	STM 6	KON 6	IGL 2	PYE 12
2017–18	8th	1130	LPL1 14	LPL2 11	WHI 3	WIN 10	IGL 9	ALT 21	STM 13	KON 5
2018–19	—	—	SIG1 —	SIG2 —	ALT —	KON —	IGL —	STM —	LPL —	CGR —
2019–20	30th	184	LPL1 —	LPL2 —	LPG —	IGL —	KON —	STM —	SIG1 —	SIG2 5

Four-man

Season	Place	Points	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
2010–11	25th	88	WHI —	CAL —	PKC —	LKP —	IGL —	WIN —	STM DSQ	CES 17
2011–12	5th	1216	IGL 8	LPL 10	WIN 3	ALT 7	KON 4	STM 8	WHI —	CAL 4
2012–13	2nd	1625	LKP 8	PKC 10	WHI 9	WIN 3	LPL 5	ALT 4	KON 5	IGL 5	SOC 1
2013–14	6th	1228	CAL DSQ	PKC 4	LKP1 5	LKP2 6	WIN 23	STM 1	IGL 1	KON 6
2014–15	1st	1735	LKP 3	CAL 1	ALT 2	KON 3	STM 1	LPL 1	IGL 1	SOC 1
2015–16	12th	904	ALT 8	WIN 5	KON1 6	LPL —	WHI1 —	WHI2 —	STM 3	KON2 5
2016–17	13th	931	WHI —	LPL —	ALT 11	WIN —	STM 2	KON 7	IGL 1	PYE 4
2017–18	5th	1322	PAC1 4	PAC2 7	WHI 14	WIN 12	IGL 4	ALT 7	STM 9	KON 2
2018–19	—	—	WIN1 —	WIN2 —	ALT —	KON —	IGL —	STM —	LPL —	CGR —
2019–20	—	—	LPL1 —	LPL2 —	WIN1 —	WIN2 —	LPG —	IGL —	KON —	STM —

References

1. "Oskars Melbārdis". ibsf.org.
2. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Oskars Melbārdis". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
3. "BMW IBSF World Championship: Oskars Melbardis wins first four-man gold for Latvia". International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation. 21 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.

External links

• Media related to Oskars Melbārdis at Wikimedia Commons

Awards
Preceded by Kristaps Porziņģis	Latvian Sportspersman of the Year 2018	Succeeded by Martins Dukurs