Franz Kemser

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameFranz•Kemser
Used nameFranz•Kemser
Born11 November 1910 in Partenkirchen, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bayern (GER) 
Died20 January 1986 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bayern (GER)
AffiliationsSC Riessersee, Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER)
NOC Germany
Nationality West Germany
Medals OG
Gold 1
Silver 0
Bronze 0
Total 1

Biography

West German bobsledder Franz Kemser won silver medals at the 1938 World Championships at Garmisch-Partenkirchen together with pilot Hanns Kilian and non-Olympians Werner Windhaus and Bobby Braumüller in the four-man event. One year later they won bronze with Hans Schmidt instead of Braumüller. Ten years later this team claimed the first German Championship after World War II. Kemser had already won his first title 10 years earlier in the four-man event. In 1953, he added one more German title in the two-man event with Andreas Ostler as well as a silver medal at the World Championships the same year.

Kemser also won the gold medal at the 1952 Winter Games at Oslo with Ostler and Lorenz Nieberl in the four-man event and completed by Fritz Kuhn. In order to have a shot at the title, the second German four-man sled wasn’t entered, and instead the two heaviest pushers – Kuhn and Kemser – joined Ostler and Nieberl in the remaining sled. This gave the Germans a decisive advantage, as they weighed in at 472 kg (including sled), and they comfortably slid to the gold. The international bobsleigh federation (FIBT) soon afterwards decided to limit the weight for four-man teams to 420 kg. Kemser made his living as a wholesaler. In 2006 the story about the 1952 German four-man bob was told in a cinema comedy called Schwere Jungs (Heavy Boys).

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal Nationality As
1952 Winter Olympics Bobsleigh (Bobsleigh) GER FRG Franz Kemser
Four, Men (Olympic) Unified Team of Germany 1 Gold

Special Notes