Two man bobsleigh
| Pos | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold |  Switzerland (Reto Götschi, Guido Acklin) | |
| Silver |  Italy (Günther Huber, Antonio Tartaglia) | |
| Bronze |  United States (Brian Shimer, Robert Olesen) |
Italy earned its first world championships medal since 1971.
| 1997 World Championships | |
|---|---|
| Location | St. Moritz, Switzerland Lake Placid, New York |
The FIBT World Championships 1997 took place in St. Moritz, Switzerland (Bobsleigh) and Lake Placid, New York, United States (Skeleton). St. Moritz hosted a championship event for the record eighteenth 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, 1987, 1989 (Skeleton), and 1990 (Bobsleigh). Meanwhile, Lake Placid hosted a championship event for the seventh time, doing so previously in 1949, 1961, 1969, 1973, 1978, and 1983.
| Pos | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Switzerland (Reto Götschi, Guido Acklin) | |
| Silver | Italy (Günther Huber, Antonio Tartaglia) | |
| Bronze | United States (Brian Shimer, Robert Olesen) |
Italy earned its first world championships medal since 1971.
| Pos | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold |  Germany (Wolfgang Hoppe, Sven Rühr, René Hannemann, Carsten Embach) | |
| Silver | Germany (Dirk Wiese, Christoph Bartsch, Thorsten Voss, Michael Liekmeier) | |
| Bronze | United States (Brian Shimer, Chip Minton, Randy Jones, Robert Olesen) |
| Pos | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold |  Ryan Davenport (CAN) | |
| Silver | Jim Shea (USA) | |
| Bronze | Chris Soule (USA) |
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany (GER) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Canada (CAN) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Switzerland (SUI) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 4 | United States (USA) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | Italy (ITA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals (5 entries) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | |
Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, also known as FIBT from the French Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing. National competitions are often governed by bodies such as the United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton, and the German Bobsleigh, Luge, and Skeleton Federation.
Helen Lesley Upperton is a Canadian bobsledder who has competed since 2002. Upperton was born in Ahmadi, Kuwait as her parents involvement in the oil industry meant they traveled abroad. She holds dual citizenship of both Great Britain and Canada. Upperton won the silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics after previously finishing fourth in the two-woman event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. In 2020 Upperton won a Canadian Screen Award for “Best Sports Analyst” for her coverage of the Bobsleigh World Championship event with Mark Lee. She went to high school at Dr. E.P. Scarlett High School and graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with a BSc.
Victor Emery is a Canadian athlete and businessman. Emery was born in Montreal, Quebec. He is a gold medallist in the four man bobsleigh pilot from the 1964 Olympic Winter Games, as well as the 1965 World Championships.
The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), originally known by the French name Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT), is the international sports federation for bobsleigh and skeleton. It acts as an umbrella organization for 14 national bobsleigh and skeleton associations as of 2007. It was founded on 23 November 1923 by the delegates of Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Canada, and the United States at the meeting of their first International Congress in Paris, France. In June 2015, it announced a name change from FIBT to IBSF. The federation's headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The FIBT World Championships 1938 took place in St. Moritz, Switzerland (Two-man) and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany (Four-man). St. Moritz hosted the two-man event for the first time after hosting the four-man event previously in 1931, 1935, and 1937 while Garmisch-Partenkirchen hosted the four-man event previously in 1934.
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 1982 took place in St. Moritz, Switzerland for the record fourteenth 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, and 1977. The skeleton event debuted at the championships after being held in St. Moritz at the 1928 and 1948 Winter Olympics and it marked the first time the event took place on the actual bobsleigh track and not on the Cresta Run.
The FIBT World Championships 1987 took place in St. Moritz, Switzerland for the record fifteenth 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, and 1982. The skeleton event that was at the 1982 championships was not included at this one when the championships returned to St. Moritz.
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 1990 took place in St. Moritz, Switzerland (Bobsleigh) and Königssee, West Germany (Skeleton). St. Moritz hosted a championship event for the record seventeenth 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, 1987, and 1989 (Skeleton). Meanwhile, Königssee hosted a championship event for the third time, doing so previously in 1979 and 1986.
The FIBT World Championships 1998 took place in St. Moritz, Switzerland for the record nineteenth 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, 1987, 1989 (Skeleton), 1990 (Bobsleigh), and 1997 (Bobsleigh). This championship event was an extraordinary event since skeleton was not included in the program at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
The FIBT World Championships 2001 took place in St. Moritz, Switzerland and Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Swiss city had hosted the event for the record twentieth time, doing so 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, 1987, 1989 (Skeleton), 1990 (Bobsleigh), 1997 (Bobsleigh), and 1998 (Skeleton). Calgary hosted the championship event for the third time, doing so previously in 1992 (Skeleton) and 1996.
The FIBT World Championships 2003 took place in Lake Placid, New York, United States, Winterberg, Germany, and Nagano, Japan. Lake Placid hosted the championship event for the eighth time, doing so previously in 1949, 1961, 1969, 1973, 1978, 1983, and 1997 (Skeleton). Winterberg hosted the championship event for a third time, doing so previously in 1995 (Bobsleigh) and 2000. This was Nagano's first time hosting a championship event. It was also the first time the championships were held in Asia.
The FIBT World Championships 2007 took place in St. Moritz, Switzerland for the record twenty-first time, doing so 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, 1987, 1989 (Skeleton), 1990 (Bobsleigh), 1997 (Bobsleigh), 1998 (Skeleton), and 2001. The mixed team event consisting of one run each of men's skeleton, women's skeleton, 2-man bobsleigh, and 2-women bobsleigh debuted at these championships.
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 issues with the city of Cortina.
The FIBT World Championships 2009, officially known as the Bauhaus FIBT Bobsleigh & Skeleton World Championships, February 20 to March 1, 2009, at the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track in Lake Placid, New York, for the ninth time, doing so previously in 1949, 1961, 1969, 1973, 1978, 1983, 1997 (skeleton), and 2003. Lake Placid was chosen 25–11 over Igls, Austria.
The FIBT World Championships 2012 took place from 13 to 26 February 2012 at the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track in Lake Placid, New York for the tenth time. Lake Placid had previously hosted the World Championships in 1949, 1961, 1969, 1973, 1978, 1983, 1997 (skeleton), 2003, and 2009.
The FIBT World Championships 2013 took place at the St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic Bobrun in St. Moritz, Switzerland for the record twenty-second time, after hosting 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, 1987, 1989 (Skeleton), 1990 (Bobsleigh), 1997 (Bobsleigh), 1998 (Skeleton), 2001, and 2007.
For the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland, a total of eight sports venues were used. The five venues used for the 1928 Winter Olympics were reused for these games. Three new venues were added for alpine skiing which had been added to the Winter Olympics program twelve years earlier in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. As of 2015, the bob run continues to be used for bobsleigh and the Cresta Run for skeleton while alpine skiing remains popular in St. Moritz.
