Joseph Beerli was proficient in both skeleton and bobsleigh, but it was his prowess in the latter that brought him international fame. He first gained attention at the 1935 World Championships, where he earned silver in the four-man event alongside Charles Bouvier, Noldi Gartmann, and Pierre Musy. This quartet then travelled to the 1936 Winter Olympics, where they won the four-man and Beerli took silver in the two-man with Swiss bobsledding legend Fritz Feierabend. Beerli and Feierabend captured bronze in the two-man at the 1938 World Championships and gold in the four-man at the 1939 World Championships, alongside the non-Olympians Heinz Cattani and Alphonse Hörning. World War II interrupted Beerli’s career but, despite being well into his 40s at the conflict’s conclusion, he returned to the international bobsledding scene and helped his crew defend their four-man crown at the 1947 World Championships. He retired from active competition shortly thereafter and resumed working at his sports shop, a business that he owned and operated until his death in September 1967.
Switzerland