Eugenio Monti

Italy’s Eugenio Monti is considered by most experts as the greatest bobsled driver in history. After winning two Olympic silver medals in 1956 he was deprived of the opportunity of further honors in 1960 as the bobsled was not included in the program at Squaw Valley that year. At his second Olympics in 1964 he won two bronze medals and, in 1968, he won gold medals in both events. The bobsled events at the 1968 Winter Games also carried the status of the World Championships and, including his Olympic victories, Monti won the world title in the two-man event eight times and was the world four-man champion three times. He retired after the 1968 Olympics and became the Italian team manager. In addition to his championships he is known for his sportsmanship at the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics. Trailing the British team of Anthony Nash and Robin Dixon going into the final run, he lent them a bolt off his own sled when theirs failed. Nash and Dixon won the gold medal, but for this magnanimous action, Monti was awarded the International Fair Play Award. After a 15-year battle with Parkinson’s Disease, he ended his life by committing suicide.