Mark Grimmette is the only area athlete to win an Olympic medal, earning a bronze and silver in doubles luge, while bringing attention to the community and the luge run at Muskegon State Park.

He grew up across the street from Muskegon’s Winter Sports Complex.  Walking in the woods near his home, he stumbled upon the sport one fall when he found construction workers building a luge track near his favorite sledding hill.  The group was looking for volunteers to carry boards and pound nails.  Grimmette pitched in. It would change the course of his life.
After a ride down the newly created track, the teenager was hooked. The ride would lead him to Lake Placid, NY and training for the Olympics. The quiet, contemplative Grimmette made his Olympic debut in 1994 with partner Jonathan Edwards, placing fourth and narrowly missing out on a medal in Lillehammer, Norway.
Shortly thereafter, he teamed up with Brian Martin of California.  Grimmette and Martin took the Luge World Cup circuit by storm in the 1997-98 season, culminating with a bronze medal at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan — the first-ever Olympic medal for the U.S. in luge.  The duo did one better at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, sliding to a surprising silver medal finish.

After a disappointing crash at the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Italy, the 39-year-old Reeths-Puffer graduate and Martin returned for one final Olympic run.  Nicknamed “Papa Mark” by his fellow athletes, Grimmette was chosen to carry the U.S. Olympic flag at the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Games in 2010
The duo placed 13th at Vancouver, and shortly after the games Grimmette announced his retirement from competition.  With Martin, he had won 65 international medals, including six bronze medals at the world championships.
In April 2010, Grimmette was named the sports program director for USA Luge.