Bethany Calcaterra-McMahon (born June 1, 1974) is an American former luger.^[1] She competed at the 1994 Winter Olympics and the 1998 Winter Olympics.^[2] Despite success at a junior and senior level, Calcaterra-McMahon is chiefly remembered for being in an on-track accident when she was 19,^[3] involving a coach from the German team.^[4]

Biography

Calcaterra-McMahon was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1974.^[1] She won two medals at the Junior World Luge Championships, with a bronze in 1992 and a silver in 1994.^[1] As a junior, she won four national titles from 1989 to 1993,^[1] before winning the senior championship in 1995.^[1]

In 1994, during a training run in Winterberg, Germany, Calcaterra-McMahon was involved in an accident on the luge track.^[1][5] German coach Josef Lenz had gone onto the track to clean a section.^[1][6] However, Lenz, who he was deaf in one ear,^[1] did not hear a warning about a sled being on the track.^[7] Calcaterra-McMahon, who was on the sled heading down the track, hit Lenz while travelling at more than 70mph.^[1] Lenz's suffered injuries that resulted in one of his legs being amputated below the knee.^[8] The two met up after the accident, prior to the 1994 Winter Olympics, with no apparent ill-feelings between them,^[9] and Lenz asking if they could go dancing one day.^[10]

At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Calcaterra-McMahon competed in the women's singles event, finishing in twelfth place.^[11] Four years later, at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, she competed in the same event, this time finishing in eighth place.^[12] Calcaterra-McMahon retired after the 1998 Winter Olympics, due to a recurring shoulder injury.^[1]

References

External links

• Bethany Calcaterra-McMahon at Olympedia