Canadian born and a competitor for his native country in at the 1994 and 1998 Winter Olympic Games, James “Clay” Ives only won an Olympic medal in luge in 2002, competing for the United States as the doubles partner of Chris Thorpe. He had taken up luging early in his life, after his father could not afford to keep all four of his sons in ice hockey and built a 900 metre sled run. He set off at the age of 17 to join the Canadian National Team and, after competing for nine years with the team, moved to the United States after the 1997-1998 season. Despite once having to go to a food bank to eat, his pleas for extra funding had been ignored by the Canadian Luge Federation. Prior to the Olympics, he won two silver medals (1999 and 2001) in doubles at the North American Luge Championships and decided to retire after the 2002 Winter Games. His childhood sled run is now a tourist attraction at the family-run bed and breakfast and is rented out to groups and, on occasion, the Canadian military.
Canada 
United States