Jamie Greubel Poser poses for a photo at the Team USA Media Summit on Sept. 25, 2017 in Park City, Utah.
Jamie Greubel Poser, one of just three U.S. women’s bobsled pilots to own both Olympic and world championships medals, is retiring.
Greubel Poser, who won bronze medals at the 2014 Olympics and 2017 world championships, both with Aja Evans, announced her retirement on Friday, a little more than a month before the sport’s world cup season begins in Austria.
She has begun a teaching career at an elementary school in Germany.
"The transition was intimidating at first, but I have been warmly welcomed and supported by an incredible community at my school," Greubel Poser said in a statement. "Teachers are some of the most dedicated, hard working and passionate people out there. For me it's that same hard work, dedication and passion it took to compete at the Olympics that I'm now putting towards my teaching career."
A former heptathlete at Cornell, Greubel Poser switched to bobsled after college in 2007, beginning as a push athlete and then transitioning to pilot in 2010. It was in the front seat where the Newtown, Pennsylvania, native had the most success.
Greubel Poser won her first world cup medal during the 2012-13 season, then made her Olympic debut in 2014 in Sochi, where she and Evans finished third. Over the most recent Olympic quad, Greubel Poser and fellow American Elana Meyers Taylor — the silver medalist in Sochi — were regularly among the sport’s best pilots, with Greubel Poser finishing third in the 2013-14 season standings, second in 2015-16 and then first in 2016-17.
"We are proud of what Jamie's accomplished in bobsled, but we are equally as proud of Jamie for who she is and how she stepped up when it mattered as a team leader," said USA Bobsled & Skeleton CEO Darrin Steele. "Her absence on the team will be felt and we'll miss her, but she created a legacy that will leave a lasting impression with the new athletes coming into the program. Her students are lucky to have someone as dedicated as Jamie is at the front of their class. We wish Jamie well in this next chapter of her life."
After her performance at the 2017 world championships, Greubel Poser went into this past winter’s Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 with medal expectations but, again driving for Evans, fell short of the podium in fifth.
In total, Greubel Poser retires with 27 world cup medals, including five wins, in women’s bobsled.
Ten U.S. women have won Olympic medals since the sport’s 2002 debut, and 11 have won world championships medals since the discipline was added in 2000. Only six have medaled in both, with Greubel Poser, Meyers Taylor and Shauna Rohbock being the only pilots to do so. The others were push athletes Evans, Lauren Gibbs and Valerie Fleming.
Greubel Poser, who turns 35 next month, has a master’s degree in early education. She is married to German Olympic world champion Christian Poser.
"It's amazing how much bobsled has shaped and changed my life," Greubel Poser said. "I never dreamed I would be married to another bobsledder and living in Germany. We have been married for four years now and competed in two Olympics together. It is an amazing experience that we are very fortunate to share."
Chrös McDougall has been a reporter and editor for TeamUSA.org since 2009 on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc. He is based in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
