Jan Behrendt

Friends since the age of six, Stefan Krausse and Jan Behrendt grew up in Ilmenau, East Germany, the same hometown as Calgary 1988 men’s single luge gold medalist Jens Mueller.

During the Calgary 1988 Olympic Winter Games, Krausse and Behrendt took home silver medals in the doubles event, trailing East German teammates Jörg Hoffmann and Jochen Pietzsch by 1/10 of a second. 

At the Albertville 1992 Olympic Games, Krausse and Behrendt moved up the podium and won gold. Two years later at the Lillehammer Games, they completed their set of medals with a bronze in the two-man luge.  By the time of the Nagano 1998 Winter Games, Krausse and Behrendt were 31 years old.  This time they took a lead of 42 1/1000 of a second on the first run and withstood the challenge of Americans Chris Thorpe and Gordon Sheer to hold on for the victory. Krausse and Behrendt are the only double-seater sliders to earn medals in four Olympic Winter Games.