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| Event type

Four, Men

Date5 – 7 February 1964
StatusOlympic
LocationKunsteis-Bob- und Rodelbahn, Igls
Participants75 from 11 countries
FormatFour runs, total time determined placement.
DetailsCurves: 13
Length: 1506 m
Start Altitude: 1133 m
Vertical Drop: 138 m

The early sixties were a time of Italian dominance in bobsleigh racing and only once, when the West German quartet won on home ice in 1962, did the world title in either the two man or four man leave the possession of Italy. It was therefore natural that the two Italian bobs would assume the mantle of favourites at the 1964 Games. Italy I was driven by reigning world champion Sergio Zardini whilst Eugenio Monti in Italy II had added the 1960 and 1961 world titles to his numerous successes in the two man championships. Other contenders for the gold included Austria I, who had placed third in the 1963 World Championships, 1962 champions West Germany and the Great Britain bob piloted by two man champion Tony Nash. The wild cards of the event were Canada I who had not challenged for a medal when the World Championships visited Igls twelve months earlier but had shown a steady improvement over the previous few seasons.

That Canada led after the first run was a surprise but the fact that they shattered the track record and finished nearly half a second clear of the field was a sensation. Expectations were still that the Italians would take over at the top of the leader board but they continued to falter and Canada increased their lead on the succeeding three runs. Austria I overtook Italy II for silver after the third run and held on narrowly to the medal at the conclusion of the event with a margin of just 0.12 seconds. The Canadian victory may not have been possible without the generosity of Eugenio Monti as the Italian had provided the use of his own mechanics to repair a rear axle on the Canadian bob during the competition.

Vic Emery, the pilot of the victorious Canadian bob, was travelling through Europe in the winter of 1956 when he hitched a lift with a truck carrying equipment for the British bobsleigh team en route to the Winter Olympics. Captivated by the events in Cortina he returned to Montreal and became a pioneer of the sport in Canada. His Olympic victory came just five years after he had driven his nation’s first ever entry at world championship level and was achieved despite a perceived lack of enthusiasm from the Canadian sporting authorities and the lack of a bob run in his home country. Emery and the Canadians proved their success was no fluke by adding the 1965 world title to their Olympic victory before retiring at the end of the season.

PosCompetitorsNOCTimeRun #1Run #2Run #3Run #4
1Canada 1CAN4:14.461:02.99 (1)1:03.82 (2)1:03.64 (2)1:04.01 (1)Gold
Vic EmeryPeter KirbyDoug AnakinJohn Emery
2Austria 1AUT4:15.481:03.67 (3)1:03.94 (3)1:03.74 (3)1:04.13 (3)Silver
Erwin ThalerAdolf KoxederJosef NairzReinhold Durnthaler
3Italy 2ITA4:15.601:03.43 (2)1:04.07 (5)1:04.02 (4)1:04.08 (2)Bronze
Eugenio MontiSergio SiorpaesBenito RigoniGildo Siorpaes
4Italy 1ITA4:15.891:03.95 (6)1:04.10 (6)1:03.59 (1)1:04.25 (=4)
Sergio ZardiniSergio MocelliniFerruccio Dalla TorreRomano Bonagura
5Unified Team of Germany 1GER4:16.191:04.21 (7)1:03.50 (1)1:04.15 (5)1:04.33 (6)
Franz SchelleLudwig SiebertJosef SterffOtto Göbl
6United States 1USA4:17.231:03.90 (4)1:04.11 (7)1:04.43 (=6)1:04.79 (11)
Bill HickeyReg BenhamBill DundonChuck Pandolph
7Austria 2AUT4:17.731:04.65 (14)1:04.40 (9)1:04.43 (=6)1:04.25 (=4)1
Paul AsteHerbert GruberAndreas ArnoldHans Stoll
8Switzerland 2SUI4:18.121:04.33 (9)1:04.54 (13)1:04.65 (10)1:04.60 (8)
Herbert KieselBernhard WildHansruedi BeuggerOskar Lory
9Unified Team of Germany 2GER4:18.681:04.47 (10)1:04.42 (10)1:05.25 (14)1:04.54 (7)
Franz WörmannAnton WackerleRupert GraseggerHubert Braun
10Switzerland 1SUI4:19.051:04.83 (16)1:04.52 (12)1:04.97 (11)1:04.73 (=9)
Hans ZollerHans KleinpeterFritz LüdiRobert Zimmermann
11SwedenSWE4:19.241:04.26 (8)1:04.04 (4)1:04.56 (8)1:06.38 (16)
Kjell HolmströmWalter AronsonKjell LuttemanCarl-Erik ErikssonHeino Freyberg
12Great Britain 1GBR4:19.401:04.56 (12)1:05.07 (16)1:04.64 (9)1:05.13 (12)
Tony NashGuy RenwickDavid LewisRobin Dixon
13Great Britain 2GBR4:19.431:04.49 (11)1:04.68 (14)1:05.53 (15)1:04.73 (=9)
Bill McCowenRobin WiddowsRobin SeelAndrew Hedges
14Canada 2CAN4:19.781:04.63 (13)1:04.43 (11)1:05.06 (13)1:05.66 (14)
Monty GordonChris OndaatjeDavid HobartGordon Currie
15RomaniaROU4:19.801:04.70 (15)1:04.89 (15)1:05.05 (12)1:05.16 (13)
Ion PanțuruGheorghe MafteiConstantin CotacuHariton Pașovschi
16ArgentinaARG4:25.511:05.74 (17)1:06.08 (18)1:07.07 (17)1:06.62 (17)
Héctor TomasiCarlos Alberto TomasiHernán AgoteFernando RodríguezRoberto José Bordeu
17BelgiumBEL4:25.841:07.46 (18)1:05.56 (17)1:06.51 (16)1:06.31 (15)
Jean de CrawhezThierry De BorchgraveCharly BouvyCamille LiénardJean-Marie Buisset
DNFUnited States 2USA1:03.92 (5)1:04.22 (8)– (DNS)
Larry McKillipBob RogersMike BaumgartnerJim Lamy