John Michael Hessel (born December 6, 1942) is a retired American luger.

[1] Hessel was born to a doctor, and grew up in Eugene, Oregon.

At the 1964 Olympics, he was arrested for a brawl with local police, but was later acquitted.

After retiring from competitions Hessel became a commercial fisherman and then a melon farmer.

This biographical article relating to luge in the United States is a stub.