| 1999 World Championships | |
|---|---|
| Location | Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy Altenberg, Germany |
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).
| Pos | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold |  Italy (Günther Huber, Enrico Costa, Ubaldo Ranzi) | |
| Silver |  Germany (Christoph Langen, Markus Zimmermann) | |
| Bronze |  France (Bruno Mingeon, Emmanuel Hostache) |
Ranzi replaced the injured Costa after the first heat of this event.
| Pos | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | France (Bruno Mingeon, Emmanuel Hostache, Éric Le Chanony, Max Robert) | |
| Silver |  Switzerland (Marcel Rohner, Markus Nüssli, Beat Hefti, Silvio Schaufelberger) | |
| Bronze |  Canada (Pierre Lueders, Ken Leblanc, Ben Hindle, Matt Hindle) |
The French earned its first ever gold medal at the championships.
| Pos | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold |  Jim Shea (USA) | |
| Silver | Andy Böhme (GER) | |
| Bronze | Willi Schneider (GER) |
Shea is the first American to win a world championship since 1959.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France (FRA) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Italy (ITA) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| United States (USA) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 4 | Germany (GER) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | Switzerland (SUI) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Canada (CAN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (6 entries) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | |
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.
Altenberg is a town in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in Saxony, Germany.
The IBSF World Championships, part of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, have taken place on an annual basis since 1930. Starting with 2002, championships of non-Winter Olympic years have not been held. 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 debuted in 2007.
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 1981 took place in Cortina 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 bobsledder James Morgan was killed during the four-man event. The death of a stuntman on the track during the first day of filming of For Your Eyes Only, done a week after these championships led track officials to shorten the track to its current configuration. Cortina would not host another championship until 1989.
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 1991 took place in Altenberg, Germany (Bobsleigh) and Igls, Austria (Skeleton). This was Altenberg's first time hosting a championship event. Igls was hosting its third, doing so previously in 1935 (Two-man) and 1963. It marked the first time a unified German team competed since World War II with East Germany and West Germany having been unified the previous year.
The FIBT World Championships 1993 took place in Igls, Austria (Bobsleigh) and La Plagne, France (Skeleton). This was Igls's fourth time hosting the championships, doing so previously in 1935 (Two-man) and 1963, and 1991 (Skeleton). Meanwhile, La Plagne was hosting its first championship event.
The FIBT World Championships 1994 took place in Altenberg, Germany for the second time, having hosted the event previously in 1991 (Bobsleigh). This was an extraordinary event since skeleton was not included on the program at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.
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.
The FIBT World Championships 2000 took place in Altenberg, Germany, Winterberg, Germany, and Igls, Austria. Altenberg hosted the championship event for the fourth time, doing so previously in 1991 (bobsleigh), 1994 (skeleton), and 1999 (skeleton). Winterberg hosted the championship event for the second time, doing so previously in 1995 (bobsleigh). Igls hosted the championship for the fifth time, doing do previously in 1935 (two-man) and 1963, 1991 (skeleton), and 1993 (bobsleigh). Two-woman bobsleigh and women's skeleton debuted at these championships.
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 2008 ran February 11–24, 2008 in Altenberg, Germany for the fifth time, having done so in 1991 (bobsleigh), 1994 (skeleton), 1999 (skeleton), and 2000. It is the first time Altenberg has hosted all of those events at one championship, and also includes the mixed team event that debuted at the 2007 championships. Training for the events took place February 12–14 for two-man and two-woman bobsleigh, and February 19–20 for skeleton and four-man bobsleigh.
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 Altenberg bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track is a venue in Germany for bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton. Located in Saxony in eastern Germany, it is northwest of Altenberg, near the border with the Czech Republic.
The Eugenio Monti olympic track is a bobsleigh and skeleton track located in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. It is 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 a last bobsleigh race tournament, the track was closed.
The 2020 IBSF World Championships were held in Altenberg, Germany from 21 February to 1 March 2020.
