Bobsleigh

CALGARY - Pierre Lueders welcomed a new member to his Canada 1 bobsled team Saturday who will symbolically travel the World Cup circuit with him this season.

Toronto's Don Macgregor paid $3,650 to win an online auction and have his name displayed on the bumper of both Lueders' two- and four-man sleds.

Lueders, an Olympic gold and silver medallist from Edmonton, spearheaded the campaign to increase awareness for his sport leading up to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

"I really wanted to do this first and foremost to lend my support to the Canadian team and Pierre's drive for the podium,'' said Macgregor, who was on the national development bobsled team in the early 1990s.

"I understand that fundraising for an athlete at that level is extremely difficult to do, and the creative way that Pierre went about it really piqued my interest.

"I am just happy to be able to give him a little extra support in this Olympic season.''

As part of the prize, Lueders and one of his Olympic teammates will give Macgregor and a friend a ride down the Whistler Olympic bobsled track.

"For me the ride is really a bonus,'' the 42-year-old Macgregor said in a release. "Even though it was 20 years ago, I have been down the Calgary track so my choice will definitely be Whistler.

"While I have had a bobsleigh experience before, it will be an absolute thrill for me to go down a track with an Olympic medallist.

"Pierre is world famous in the sport, I admire him and getting this opportunity is absolutely cool in my books.''

Lueders is still hoping for a corporate sponsor whose name he would display on both his Canada 1 sleds.

"A bobsleigh is a unique piece of sporting equipment, similar to a Formula One race car, that can provide significant profile for a company to masses of people around the world,'' Lueders said.

Lueders, 39, has captured 88 World Cup medals, eight world championship and two Olympic medals throughout his illustrious career.