Bobsleigh at the 1988 Winter Olympics

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Bobsleigh
at the XV Olympic Winter Games
Bobsleigh pictogram.svg
Venue Canada Olympic Park
Dates20–28 February
Competitors135 from 23 nations
  1984
1992  

Bobsleigh at the 1988 Winter Olympics consisted of two events, at Canada Olympic Park. The competition took place between February 20 and February 28, 1988. [1] [2]

The event included competitors from countries with little history of bobsleigh participation and/or little or no snow. [3] These countries included Jamaica (whose involvement spurred the film Cool Runnings in 1993), Mexico, and New Zealand. An informal "Caribbean Cup" of such countries was won by New Zealand's Alexander Peterson and Peter Henry, who finished equal twentieth. In the two-man event, the best result from a completely snow-less country was fifteenth by Chen Chin-san and Lee Chen-tan of the Chinese Taipei. [3]

Medal summary

Medal table

[1]

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1012
2Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland 1001
3Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 0213
Totals (3 entries)2226

Three countries won medals in Calgary, with the Soviet Union leading the medal table, winning two medals, one gold and one bronze. East Germany won the most medals, with three.

Events

[1]

EventGoldSilverBronze
Two-man
details
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union  (URS)
Jānis Ķipurs
Vladimir Kozlov
3:53.48Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany  (GDR)
Wolfgang Hoppe
Bogdan Musioł
3:54.19Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany  (GDR)
Bernhard Lehmann
Mario Hoyer
3:54.64
Four-man
details
Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland  (SUI)
Ekkehard Fasser
Kurt Meier
Marcel Fässler
Werner Stocker
3:47.51Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany  (GDR)
Wolfgang Hoppe
Dietmar Schauerhammer
Bogdan Musioł
Ingo Voge
3:47.58Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union  (URS)
Jānis Ķipurs
Guntis Osis
Juris Tone
Vladimir Kozlov
3:48.26

Participating NOCs

[1]

Twenty-three nations participated in bobsleigh at the 1988 Games. With nine debutants, more than a third of these were competing in Olympic bobsleigh for the first time. The nations making debuts were Netherlands Antilles, Australia, Bulgaria, U.S. Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand and Portugal.

Ireland

For the first time, a team from Ireland was also entered in the competition. However, just ten days before the opening ceremony took place, its entry was cancelled by the Olympic Council of Ireland, without explanation. An attempt to overturn the withdrawal in court was unsuccessful. The story is told in the 2020 documentary film Breaking Ice . [4] [5]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Calgary 1988 Official Report" (PDF). XV Olympic Winter Games Organizing Committee. LA84 Foundation. 1988. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  2. "Bobsleigh at the 1988 Calgary Winter Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  3. 1 2 David Wallechinsky: "The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics" (2002 edition) ISBN   1-85410-807-7
  4. O'Callaghan, Eoin (15 February 2014). "Calgary '88: Tracey's bob dream slips away". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  5. Crosson, Seán (7 October 2020). "Breaking Ice – Review of Irish Film at Galway Film Fleadh 2020". Film Ireland Magazine. Retrieved 28 December 2020.