Jon Lugbill

Jon Phillip Lugbill (born May 27, 1961 in Wauseon, Ohio) is a whitewater canoe slalom racer. During the 1980s, he participated in international racing in Men's Individual C1 (a decked canoe, similar to a kayak). He is the only slalom racer to ever appear on the Wheaties box.

Jon Lugbill
Medal record
Men's canoe slalom
Representing  United States
World Championships
1979 JonquièreC1
1979 JonquièreC1 team
1981 BalaC1
1981 BalaC1 team
1983 MeranC1
1983 MeranC1 team
1985 AugsburgC1 team
1987 Bourg St.-MauriceC1
1987 Bourg St.-MauriceC1 team
1989 Savage RiverC1
1989 Savage RiverC1 team
1991 TacenC1 team
1985 AugsburgC1

Lugbill started canoeing in the 1970s in the Washington, D.C. area. He often trained daily in his C1 using slalom gates set up on a feeder canal next to the Potomac River near Great Falls. During the winter, Lugbill and his fellow paddlers also trained in the David Taylor Model Basin. He and some other fellow racers (notably David Hearn) developed new designs of low volume decked canoes, using nylon, kevlar and fiberglass cloths mixed with epoxy resin.

In 1979, Lugbill won the C1 men's individual World Championship in canoe slalom at the first World Championships to be held on the North American continent at Jonquière (Canada). This was the first time an American had won a gold medal in the world canoe slalom championships. Lugbill went on to win gold in his category several more times; 1981 at Bala (Wales), 1983 at Meran (Italy), 1987 at Bourg St. Maurice (France), and 1989 at the Savage River (USA). In 1985 at Augsburg (then in West Germany), Lugbill had to settle for the silver medal after David Hearn bested him for the gold. Lugbill also won seven consecutive world championship gold medals in the C1 team event (1979-1991). His older brother Ron was part of the gold medal winning C1 team in 1981.

Lugbill won three consecutive overall world cup titles in the C1 category including the inaugural edition in 1988.

During the peak of Lugbill's career, whitewater canoeing was not included on the competition program of the Summer Olympic Games. His only appearance on the Olympic stage came in 1992, when the sport returned to the Olympics after a 20-year absence. On the man-made course in La Seu d'Urgell, Spain, Lugbill placed fourth after being assessed for a five-second gate touch penalty at Gate 23 during his first run.

Lugbill is the Executive Director of Metropolitan Richmond Sports Backers and resides in Richmond, Virginia. The Sports Backers have been named the best Sports Commission in America an unprecedented 4 times by the National Association of Sports Commissions.[1]

Lugbill lived in Archbold, Ohio until he was three years old. Then he moved to Vienna and then Fairfax, Virginia. He attended Lanier Intermediate School in Fairfax and Oakton High School. He graduated from the University of Virginia. He has two daughters, Kelly and Stephanie.

World Cup individual podiums

Season Date Venue Position Event
198912 Aug 1989Mezzana1stC1
15 Aug 1989Augsburg1stC1
19901 Jul 1990Wausau1stC1
1990Savage River1stC1
12 Aug 1990Augsburg1stC1
25 Aug 1990Tacen2ndC1
199130 Jun 1991Mezzana2ndC1
10 Jul 1991Reals2ndC1
25 Aug 1991Minden2ndC1
1 Sep 1991Wausau1stC1

References

  • FFCK.org information on ICF World Championship medalists at the Wayback Machine (archived May 5, 2003)
  • ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships – Part 2: rest of flatwater (now sprint) and remaining canoeing disciplines: 1936–2007 at WebCite (archived 2009-11-09)
  • Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Jon Lugbill". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.
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