Ekkehard Fasser’s original athletic pursuit was track and field, and he specialized in the high jump, long jump, and shot put. By 1978, however, he had taken up bobsledding and was the junior world runner-up in the two-man with Ralph Pichler. Fasser made the reserve squad of the Swiss national team in 1981 and, the following year, participated in his first World Cup events. In 1983 he won the European Championships in the four-man and, alongside Hans Märchy, Kurt Poletti, and Rolf Strittmatter, the World Championships as well. This earned the quartet a trip to the 1984 Winter Olympics, where they were expected to battle for the gold medal with the Swiss 1982 World Champions, Rico Freiermuth , Silvio Giobellina, Urs Salzmann, and Heinz Stettler. The two East German teams, however, had other plans, and took first and second in every run, while the 1982 World Champions were consistently third, leaving Fasser’s squad in fourth position and off the podium.
Fasser continued to compete and, in 1986, earned the title of Bobsleigh World Cup Champion with his crew. He returned to the Olympics in 1988 with Marcel Fässler, Kurt Meier, and Werner Stocker and pulled off a surprising victory in the four-man, taking advantage of a disastrous third run from defending Olympic champion Wolfgang Hoppe’s team and winning by a margin of 0.07 seconds. Gold medal in hand, Fasser retired from active competition after the Games.
Switzerland