On This Day

Bobsleigh in History

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Events in Sport

1st Winter Olympics

1924-02-03 Switzerland claims the inaugural Olympic bobsleigh gold medal at the Chamonix Games, ahead of Great Britain and Belgium

Einar Landvik, Nordic skier from Norway, competes in the first-ever Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, 1924
  • 1928-02-18 USA 2 beats USA 1 by 0.5s for the 5-man bobsleigh gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Germany 2 takes bronze
  • 1930-12-25 Mt, Van Hoevenberg bobsled run at Lake Placid, NY opens; first American bobsled run open to public
  • 1932-02-09 USA enters Olympic 2-man bobsled competition for 1st time
  • 1932-02-15 American brothers Hubert and Curtis Stevens beat the 8-nation field to win the 2-man bobsleigh gold medal at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics

Olympic Gold

1932-02-15 As a member of gold medal winning US 4-man bobsleigh team at Lake Placid, Eddie Eagan (boxing gold Antwerp 1920) becomes only Olympian to win gold medals at both summer & winter Games in different sports

Boxer and Bobsledder Eddie Eagan
  • 1948-01-31 Swiss pair Felix Endrich & Friedrich Waller beat countrymen Fritz Feierabend & Paul Eberhard to win the 2-man bobsleigh gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; silver medallist Feierabend is team coach
  • 1952-02-22 Germany takes the Olympic bobsleigh double with gold in the 4-man event at the Oslo Winter Games; Adreas Ostler and Lorenz Niebert score their 2nd gold medals after winning the 2-man a week earlier
  • 1956-01-28 Italy goes 1-2 in the 2-man bobsleigh at the Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics; along with silver in 4-man event, the only medals for the home nation at the Games
  • 1968-02-16 Italy completes the bobsleigh double at the Grenoble Winter Olympics with victory in the 4-man; Eugenio Monti and Luciano de Paolis double up for gold winning 2-man earlier
  • 2009-03-01 Steven Holcomb pilots USA-1 sled to victory in the 4-man competition at the World Bobsled Championships at Mt Van Hoevenberg, NY; first American win in the event in 50 years
  • 2014-02-19 Canadian team Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyes win their second consecutive Olympic 2-woman bobsleigh gold medal at the Sochi Winter Games
  • 2018-02-19 Canadian team of Justin Kripps & Alexander Kopacz dead-heat in 3:16.86 with Germans Francesco Friedrich & Thorsten Margis for the 2-man bobsleigh gold medal at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics
  • 2018-02-25 2-man bobsled champions Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis of Germany win their 2nd gold medals of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics as part of the German 4-man team
  • 2022-02-15 In the only podium sweep of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Germany takes all 3 medals in the 2-man bobsleigh; Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis win gold

Birthdays in Sport

  • 1892-01-29 Clifford Gray, American bobsledder (Olympic gold 5-man 1928, 4-man 1932), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1969)

Eddie Eagan (1897-1967)

1897-04-26 American boxer (Olympic gold - light heavyweight, 1920) and bobsledder (Olympic gold - 4-man team,1932), born in Denver, Colorado

Eddie Eagan
  • 1898-06-01 Curtis Stevens, American bobsledder (Olympic gold 2-man [with brother Hubert] 1932), born in Lake Placid, New York (d. 1979)
  • 1899-10-14 Alan Washbond, American 2-man bobsledder (Olympic gold 1932), born in Essex County, New York (d. 1965)
  • 1908-09-09 John Heaton, American sledder (Olympic silver skeleton 1928, 48, bronze bobsled 1932; American team's flag bearer 1948), born in New Haven, Connecticut (d. 1976)
  • 1910-08-25 Pierre Musy, Swiss 4-man bobsled (Olympic gold 1936), born in Albeuve, Switzerland (d. 1990)
  • 1910-11-11 Franz Kemser, German 4 man bobsled (Olympic gold 1952), born in Partenkirchen, Bayern, Germany (d. 1986)
  • 1922-03-15 Nino Bibbia, Italian sledder (Olympic gold skeleton 1948), born in Bianzone, Lombardy, Italy (d. 2013)
  • 1928-01-23 Eugenio Monti, Italian bobsledder (2 x Olympic gold 2-man, 4-man 1968; World C'ships 9 x gold), born in Toblach, Italy (d. 2003)
  • 1930-11-14 Charles De Sorgher, Belgian bobsledder
  • 1933-06-18 Jean Wicki, Swiss bobsledder (Olympic gold 4-man 1972, bronze 1968; bronze 2-man 1972), born in Sierre, Switzerland (d. 2023)
  • 1935-04-21 Robin Dixon, England, 2 man bobsled (Olympic gold 1960)
  • 1936-03-18 Tony Nash, English bobsledder (Olympic gold two-man 1964), born in Amersham, England
  • 1940-04-15 Edy Hubacher, Swiss 4-man bobsled (Olympic gold 1972), born in Bern, Switzerland
  • 1941-01-13 Meinhard Nehmer, German DR, 2 man bobsledder (Olympic gold 1976)
  • 1943-06-08 Willie Davenport, American bobsledder and track athlete (Olympic gold 110m hurdles 1968), born in Troy, Alabama (d. 2002)
  • 1943-08-07 Giorgio Alverà, Italian bobsledder (World C'ship gold Two-man 1975), born in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy (d. 2013)
  • 1951-02-07 Manfred Schumann, German FR, bobsled (Olympic-silver/bronze-1976)
  • 1951-08-21 Bernhard Germeshausen, German bobsledder (Olympic gold x 4 GDR 1976, 80), born in Heilbad Heiligenstadt, Germany (d. 2022)
  • 1954-09-05 Hans-Jorgen Gerhardt, German bobsleder (Olympic gold 1980), born in Altenburg, Thuringia
  • 1957-07-25 Bogdan Musioł, German bobsledder (Olympic bronze 1980), born in Świętochłowice, Silesia, Poland
  • 1958-03-14 Albert II, Prince of Monaco (bobsledder at 1988 Olympics), born in Monaco
  • 1967-08-11 Eric Maleson, Brazilian Bobsleigh 2002 Olympian
  • 1968-01-29 Susi Erdmann, German bobsledder (World C'ship gold x 7; Olympic silver Women's singles 1994, bronze 1992), born in Blankenburg, Germany
  • 1969-01-03 Gerda Weissensteiner OMRI, Italian luger and bobsleigh pilot (Olympic gold women's singles 1994), born in Bolzano, Italy
  • 1974-05-23 Matt Hindle, Canadian bobsledder, born in Calgary, Alberta
  • 1980-04-14 Steven Holcomb, American Bobsledder (Olympic gold, 2010), born in Park City, Utah (d. 2017)
  • 1982-08-05 LoLo Jones, American track and field athlete and bobsledder, born in Des Moines, Iowa

Deaths in Sport

  • 1957-05-12 Alfonso de Portago, Spanish bobsledder and race car driver (b. 1928)
  • 1965-07-30 Alan Washbond, American 2-man bobsledder (Olympic gold 1932), dies at 65

Eddie Eagan (1897-1967)

1967-06-14 American boxer (Olympic gold - light heavyweight, 1920) and bobsledder (Olympic gold - 4-man team,1932), dies of a heart attack at 69

Eddie Eagan
  • 1976-09-10 John Heaton, American sledder (Olympic silver skeleton 1928, 48, bronze bobsled 1932; American team's flag bearer 1948), dies at 68
  • 1986-01-20 Franz Kemser, German 4 man bobsled (Olympic gold 1952), dies at 75
  • 2002-06-17 Willie Davenport, American bobsledder and track athlete (Olympic gold 110m hurdles 1968), dies from a heart attack at 59
  • 2003-12-01 Eugenio Monti, Italian bobsledder (2 x Olympic gold 2-man, 4-man 1968; World C'ships 9 x gold), dies from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at 75
  • 2013-01-14 Giorgio Alverà, Italian bobsledder (World C'ship gold Two-man 1975), dies at 69
  • 2017-05-06 Steven Holcomb, American Bobsledder (Olympic gold, 2010), dies in his sleep, with mix of alcohol and prescription medication found in his blood, at 37

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