Two man bobsleigh
| Pos | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold |  East Germany (Bernhard Germeshausen, Hans-Jürgen Gerhardt) | |
| Silver | East Germany (Horst Schönau, Andreas Kirchner) | |
| Bronze |  Switzerland (Erich Schärer, Josef Benz) |
| 1981 World Championships | |
|---|---|
| Location | Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy |
The FIBT World Championships 1981 took place in Cortinia d'Ampezzo, Italy for the seventh time, having hosted the event previously in 1937 (Two-man), 1939 (Four-man), 1950, 1954, 1960, and 1966.
Following the death of West Germany's Toni Pensperger at the track in 1966, numerous safety improvements were done at the track which were satisfactory enough for the FIBT to allow the championships to be hosted. These improvements would not be enough as American bobsled driver James Morgan was killed during the third run of the four-man event. [1] [2]
A stuntman fatality on the track a week later, during the first day of filming of For Your Eyes Only , led track officials to shorten the track to its current configuration. Cortina did not host another championship until 1989.
| Pos | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | East Germany (Bernhard Germeshausen, Hans-Jürgen Gerhardt) | |
| Silver | East Germany (Horst Schönau, Andreas Kirchner) | |
| Bronze | Switzerland (Erich Schärer, Josef Benz) |
February 8, 1981
| Pos | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | East Germany (Bernhard Germeshausen, Hans-Jürgen Gerhardt, Henry Gerlach, Michael Trübner) | |
| Silver | Switzerland (Hans Hiltebrand, Kurt Poletti, Franz Weinberger, Franz Isenegger) | |
| Bronze | Switzerland (Erich Schärer, Max Rüegg, Tony Rüegg, Josef Benz) |
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Germany (GDR) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | Switzerland (SUI) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Totals (2 entries) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
Sandra Kiriasis is a German former bobsledder who has competed from 2000 to 2014.
The IBSF World Championships, part of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, have taken place on an annual basis since 1930. Starting with 2002, no World Championships being held in non-Winter Olympic years. A two-man event was included in 1931 with a combined championship occurring in 1947. Men's skeleton was introduced as a championship of its own in 1982 while women's bobsleigh and skeleton events were introduced in 2000. Both the women's bobsleigh and skeleton events were merged with the men's bobsleigh events at the 2004 championships. A mixed team event, consisting of one run each of men's skeleton, women's skeleton, 2-man bobsleigh, and 2-women bobsleigh, was held from 2007 to 2019. In 2020 it was replaced with skeleton mixed team event, consisting of one run each of men's and women's skeleton. Women's monobob event was included in 2021.
The FIBT World Championships 1937 took place in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy (Two-man) and in St. Moritz, Switzerland (Four-man). St. Moritz hosted the four-man event previously in 1931 and 1935.
The FIBT World Championships 1939 took place in St. Moritz, Switzerland (Two-man) and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy (Four-man). St. Moritz hosted the two-man event for the second time after hosting it previously in 1938, along with hosting the four-man event in 1931, 1935, and 1937. Cortina d'Ampezzo hosted the two-man event previously in 1937. It was the last world championships that would be held prior to World War II and the last that would be held with bobsleigh events in separate locations until 2000 when the two-woman event debuted that year.
The FIBT World Championships 1950 took place in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy for the third time after hosting the event previously in 1937 (Two-man) and 1939 (Four-man).
The FIBT World Championships 1954 took place in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy for the fourth time after previously hosting in 1937 (Two-man), 1939 (Four-man), and 1950.
The FIBT World Championships 1960 took place in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy for the fifth time. The Italian city had hosted the event previously in 1937 (Two-man), 1939 (Four-man), 1950, and 1954. This was an extraordinary event because bobsleigh was not included in the program at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California.
The FIBT World Championships 1966 took place in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy for the sixth time, having hosted the event previously in 1937 (Two-man), 1939 (Four-man), 1950, 1954, and 1960. The Four-man event was cancelled following the death of West Germany's Toni Pensperger during competition. Pensperger would be awarded a posthumous gold medal from the FIBT along with his surviving teammates Ludwig Siebert, Helmut Werzer, and Roland Ebert. As of 2010, Pensperger's death would set the FIBT to increase and improve safety among all bobsleigh competitions at all levels, including the Winter Olympics and the World championships.
The FIBT World Championships 1985 took place in Cervinia, Italy for the third time, having hosted the event previously in 1971 and 1975. Except for competitions in St. Moritz, Switzerland and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, it would be the last time a championship would be hosted on a naturally refrigerated track with all other competitions taking place on artificially refrigerated ones.
The FIBT World Championships 1989 took place in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy (Bobsleigh) and St. Moritz, Switzerland (Skeleton). Cortina hosted the championships for the eighth time, having hosted the event previously in 1937 (Two-man), 1939 (Four-man), 1950, 1954, 1960, 1966, and 1981. Meanwhile, St. Moritz hosted a championship event for the record sixteenth time. The Swiss city had hosted the event previously in 1931 (Four-man), 1935 (Four-man), 1937 (Four-man), 1938 (Two-man), 1939 (Two-man), 1947, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1965, 1970, 1974, 1977, 1982, and 1987. The skeleton event became an official championship event this year, albeit at a separate location from the bobsleigh event. They would not be at the same location other than St. Moritz for the first time until the 1996 championships in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The FIBT World Championships 1999 took place in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy (Bobsleigh) and Altenberg, Germany (Skeleton). Cortina hosted the championships for the ninth time, previously doing so in 1937 (Two-man), 1939 (Four-man), 1950, 1954, 1960, 1966, 1981, and 1989 (Bobsleigh). Altenberg hosted the championship event for the third time, doing so previously in 1991 (Bobsleigh) and 1994 (Skeleton).
Anton "Toni" Pensperger was a West German bobsledder who competed during the 1960s. He was posthumously awarded a gold medal in the four-man event after he was killed during the event at the 1966 FIBT World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo. His surviving teammates Ludwig Siebert, Helmut Werzer, and Roland Ebert received their golds as well.
Gianfranco Gaspari is an Italian bobsledder who competed from the late 1960s to the early 1970s. He won four medals at the FIBT World Championships with one gold, two silvers, and one bronze.
The FIBT World Championships 2011 took place 14 February – 27 February 2011 in Königssee, Germany, for the fifth time, doing so previously in 1979, 1986, and 1990 (skeleton), and 2004. In 2007, the championships were awarded to Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy over Winterberg Germany, but Cortina withdrew in February 2009 to a series of issues.
The Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Bobsled Run is a venue for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton in the United States, located at the Lake Placid Olympic Sports Complex in Lake Placid, New York. This venue was used for the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics and for the only winter Goodwill Games in 2000. The track hosted both the first FIBT World Championships and FIL World Luge Championships held outside of Europe, doing so in 1949 and 1983. The third and most recent version of the track was completed in 2000. In 2010 the bobsled track was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Eugenio Monti Olympic Track was a bobsleigh and skeleton track located in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. It was named after Eugenio Monti (1928–2003), who won six bobsleigh medals at the Winter Olympic Games between 1956 and 1968 and ten medals at the FIBT World Championships between 1957 and 1966. It was featured in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only, held after the 1981 FIBT World Championships, before the track was shortened to its current configuration. In January 2008, after one last bobsleigh race tournament, the track was closed.
The Canada Olympic Park bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track is a bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track located in Calgary, Alberta. Part of Canada Olympic Park, it hosted the bobsleigh and luge competitions at the 1988 Winter Olympics. This track is one of only two of its type in the world to be featured in a non-documentary film when it was part of the 1993 American film Cool Runnings which loosely followed the Jamaican Bobsled Team during their competition in bobsleigh at the 1988 Games.
James Patrick Morgan, known as Jimmy, but nicknamed "Nitro" was an American bobsled driver who competed from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. He was killed in 1981 during the third of four runs of the four-man event at the World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, held at the track used for the 1956 Winter Olympics.
For the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, a total of eight sports venues were used. All of the venues used were new or rebuilt. To make use of television coverage for the first time in the Winter Olympics, the cross-country skiing stadium was constructed to allow the best coverage. Five of the venues used for these games would appear in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only twenty-five years later.
The Blue Lake bobsleigh track was a bobsleigh track located near the Blue Lake in Breuil-Cervinia, a hamlet of the municipality of Valtournenche in the Aosta Valley, Italy. Built in 1963, the track hosted numerous international bobsleigh events until its final closure in 1991.
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