Jeff Pain

Jeff Pain
Personal information
Full name	Jeffrey Thomas Pain
Born	December 14, 1970 (age 51); Anchorage, Alaska, United States
Medal record
Skeleton
Representing Canada
Olympic Games
World Championships

Jeffrey Thomas "Jeff" Pain^[1] (born December 14, 1970) is an American-born Canadian former skeleton racer who competed from 1995 to 2010. He is regarded as one of the most successful male competitors in the history of the Canadian skeleton program. He was born in Anchorage, Alaska.

He graduated from the University of British Columbia, where he was a member of the school's varsity track and field team.^[2]

Pain has had a 15-year career with 22 World Cup podium finishes in 74 starts, including ten wins,^[3] 3 World Championship medals, and an Olympic silver medal. This included winning the men's Skeleton World Cup overall title twice (2004-5, 2005-6). He first represented Canada at the 2002 Olympic Winter games finishing 6th, where Skeleton returned after a 54-year hiatus. Then Pain went on to compete in the 2006 Winter Olympics where he finished with a silver medal behind fellow Canadian Duff Gibson. One distinguishing feature of Pain's skeleton gear is his custom-painted helmet, depicting the face of an enraged beaver. Pain was married to his wife Aly in 1997 and they have two sons.

Jeff and Aly released their first book, "The Business of Marriage & Medals" - A Relationship's Journey through Elite Performance. This book is a raw and honest account of the couples marriage while dealing with tremendous sacrifice and extended time apart.

Pain also won three medals in the men's skeleton event at the FIBT World Championships with two golds (2003, 2005) and a silver (2001).

He finished in ninth place at the 2010 Winter Olympics; racing with a badly injured right Oblique muscle. In October 2010, he announced his retirement from competition.^[3]

In 2015 Pain was appointed as coach of the Chinese skeleton team, after the 2022 Winter Olympics were awarded to Beijing.^[4]

References[]

^ "第23届平昌冬奥会中国体育代表团名单" [List of the 23rd Pyongchang Winter Olympic Games Chinese Sports Delegation]. State General Administration of Sports (in Chinese). 1 February 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
^ Drexhage, Glenn. "Insane Pain: Thrill of the Skeleton". UBC Public Affairs. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
^ ^a ^b Christie, James (27 March 2017). "Pain announces retirement from skeleton". theglobeandmail.com. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
^ Leicester, John (23 February 2018). "China stumbling on path to Olympic glory at 2022 home games". WashingtonPost.com. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2018.