Robert Pipkins, the youngest athlete and first African-American to represent the United States in the luge, became the first American to win a major international event when he won the 1992 Junior World Championships in Sapporo, Japan.
He went on to represent the United States in two Winter Olympics, finishing 21st at the 1992 Games in Albertville, France, and 16th at the 1996 Games in Lillehammer, Norway.
Class of 1998
Did You Know?
Robert Pipkins was a teenage longshot at the 1992 U.S. Olympic Trials until his final run, when he broke the course record at Mt. Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, and was added to the three-man United States team as a discretionary pick.
