Jill Bakken

Jill Bakken (born January 25, 1977, in Portland, Oregon) is an American Olympic bobsledder who has competed since 1994. As driver, she and partner Vonetta Flowers won the gold medal in Bobsleigh at the 2002 Winter Olympics for the U.S. Bakken's best Bobsleigh World Cup season finish was second in the two-woman event in 1999–2000. Bakken was a Specialist in the Utah Army National Guard and sponsored by the Army World Class Athlete Program at the time she won gold.

Bakken is a graduate of Lake Washington High School and an alumnus of Eastern Washington University, transferring there in 2005. She has also attended the University of Utah and Oregon State University, where she played soccer.

Bakken is now a driving coach for the Canadian bobsleigh team and is married to Florian Linder who is also a coach for the Canadian bobsled team.

Famous quotes containing the word jill:

    From the beginning, the placement of [Clarence] Thomas on the high court was seen as a political end justifying almost any means. The full story of his confirmation raises questions not only about who lied and why, but, more important, about what happens when politics becomes total war and the truth—and those who tell it—are merely unfortunate sacrifices on the way to winning.
    Jane Mayer, U.S. journalist, and Jill Abramson b. 1954, U.S. journalist. Strange Justice, p. 8, Houghton Mifflin (1994)