Jesse Lumsden

Biography

A former college football star and son of a Canadian Football Hall of Famer, Jesse Lumsden made his Olympic debut at Vancouver 2010 less than a year after first testing for the Canadian bobsleigh program. As the brakeman for two-time Olympic medallist Pierre Lueders, Lumsden recorded a pair of fifth-place finishes in the two-man and four-man events.

At Sochi 2014, Lumsden finished seventh in the two-man event with Canada-2 pilot Chris Spring. A shift in the crews for the four-man event put Lumsden in the Canada-3 sled with Justin Kripps, who had proven to be the best Canadian driver on the Sochi track. Eighth after the first heat, the sled overturned on turn 12 in the second heat. Lumsden was cleared medically to continue racing but the sled could not move out of last place.

Lumsden had a standout college football career at McMaster University where he won the Hec Crighton Trophy as the most outstanding CIS player in 2004. He went on to play four years for the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats. In 2009 he signed with the Edmonton Eskimos, but in the first quarter of his first game he dislocated a shoulder, requiring season-ending surgery.

In the spring of 2009 Lumsden was recruited to push-test for bobsleigh. He rehabbed his shoulder, and while not cleared to resume football, he was able to make his international bobsleigh debut in November 2009, winning a Europa Cup event with Lueders. His World Cup debut followed shortly after. After Vancouver 2010, Lumsden signed with the Calgary Stampeders, which would allow him to continue to pursue his bobsleigh career. He played three games, before suffering a torn left ACL which ended his season.

In May 2011 he retired from football to focus full-time on bobsleigh. He moved into the sled piloted by Olympic bronze medallist Lyndon Rush and together they won two-man silver at the 2012 World Championships. They also won the 2012-13 overall World Cup title in the two-man event. After Sochi 2014, Lumsden took an extended break from bobsleigh to rest his body and start thinking about life after sport. He returned to the World Cup circuit in the fall of 2016. He pushed Justin Kripps to a two-man silver at Lake Placid that December before the duo won two-man silver at the 2017 World Championships in Königssee, Germany for Canada’s first men’s world bobsleigh medal since 2012.

At PyeongChang 2018, Lumsden finished sixth in the four-man event with Kripps and seventh in the two-man event with Nick Poloniato.

A little more about Jesse…

Getting into the Sport: At age 27 jumped at the opportunity to test for the Canadian bobsleigh program because he wanted the opportunity to wear the maple leaf in international competition and to compete at the Olympic Games would be the chance of a lifetime… Pushing a 400lb sled would also be good cross-training for football, simulating a short yardage or goal line situation for a running back… Outside Interests: Received his Bachelor of Arts in geography from McMaster University… Works as business development lead for a private equity group… Enjoys fly fishing, hunting, archery, camping… Has done TV commentary for Canadian university football… Odds and Ends: Six-time CFL Player of the Week… Nicknames: Lummer, Jet, Tron… One of his role models is Bo Jackson who competed in multiple sports at the highest level and is an accomplished outdoorsman…