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| Event type

Four, Men1

Date16 February 1968
StatusOlympic
LocationPiste de Bobsleigh, L'Alpe-d'Huez
Participants76 from 11 countries
FormatFour runs, total time determined placement.
DetailsCurves: 13
Length: 1500 m
Start Altitude: 2030 m
Vertical Drop: 140 m

Circumstances meant that it was difficult to draw a form line from recent world championships to the 1968 Winter Olympics. Not one of the medallists from the 1965 Worlds was present at Grenoble whilst both the 1966 and 1967 championships were abandoned. The tragic death of Germany’s Toni Pensburger curtailed the 1966 event whilst adverse weather conditions meant that the next year’s championships were never even started.

Eugenio Monti of Italy had defeated his Olympic jinx in the two man event and entered the four man competition as favourite despite it being seven years since his last world title in the event. The weather again threatened to ruin proceedings but after two days were abandoned the racing eventually got underway albeit restricted to two runs instead of the scheduled four. Monti did not disappoint and posted the fastest time of the first run. Behind him were the Austria I quartet piloted by Edwin Thaler and the second Italian crew. The fastest times of the second run was posted by Switzerland I, which moved them into the bronze medal position, and by Thaler’s Austrians but Monti was not to be denied. His lead was cut to less than a tenth of a second but that was sufficient to make sure that he became the first man to win both bobsleigh events at a single Winter Games.

This was the last race of Monti’s illustrious career which had seen him gather nine world titles in addition to his six Olympic medals and a reputation for fair play. He retired from competition to pursue his business interests but stayed in the sport as manager of the Italian team. After suffering from Parkinson’s disease for close on two decades Monti ended his own life in 2003.

Further down the field were two men who found success in the world of motor racing. Both Boris Said, Jr of the United States and Briton Robin Widdows competed at the top level of the sport and participated in Formula One Grand Prix races.

PosCompetitorsNOCTimeRun #1Run #2
1Italy 1ITA2:17.391:09.84 (1)1:07.55 (=3)Gold
Eugenio MontiLuciano De PaolisRoberto ZandonellaMario Armano
2Austria 1AUT2:17.481:10.08 (2)1:07.40 (2)Silver
Erwin ThalerReinhold DurnthalerHerbert GruberJosef Eder
3Switzerland 1SUI2:18.041:10.65 (=7)1:07.39 (1)Bronze
Jean WickiHans CandrianWilli HofmannWalter Graf
4RomaniaROU2:18.141:10.59 (6)1:07.55 (=3)
Ion PanțuruPetre HristoviciGheorghe MafteiNicolae Neagoe
5West Germany 1FRG2:18.331:10.49 (5)1:07.84 (5)
Horst FlothWilli SchäferFrank LangePepi Bader
6Italy 2ITA2:18.361:10.24 (3)1:08.12 (6)
Gianfranco GaspariGiuseppe RescignoAndrea ClementeLeonardo Cavallini
7France 1FRA2:18.841:10.65 (=7)1:08.19 (7)2
Francis LuiggiAndré PateyGérard MonrazelMaurice Grether
8Great Britain 1GBR2:18.841:10.45 (4)1:08.39 (9)
Tony NashGuy RenwickRobin WiddowsRobin Dixon
9West Germany 2FRG2:19.471:11.12 (13)1:08.35 (8)
Wolfgang ZimmererStefan GaisreiterHans BaumannPeter Utzschneider
10United States 2USA2:19.561:11.08 (11)1:08.48 (10)
Bob SaidDavid DunnBob CrowleyPhil Duprey
11France 2FRA2:19.721:11.11 (12)1:08.61 (11)
Bertrand CrosetClaude RousselLouis CourtoisHenri Sirvain
12Switzerland 2SUI2:19.831:11.02 (10)1:08.81 (13)
René StadlerHansruedi MüllerRobert ZimmermannErnst Schmidt
13Austria 2AUT2:20.021:10.90 (9)1:09.12 (15)
Manfred HoferHans RitzlFritz DinkhauserKarl Pichler
14Great Britain 2GBR2:20.191:11.52 (15)1:08.67 (12)
John BlockeyJohn BrownTim ThornMike Freeman
15United States 1USA2:20.371:11.45 (14)1:08.92 (14)
Bill HickeyHoward CliftonMickey LucePaul Savage
16SwedenSWE2:22.101:12.20 (16)1:09.90 (16)
Rolf HöglundHans HallénSven MartinssonBörje Hedblom
17CanadaCAN2:22.821:12.61 (17)1:10.21 (17)
Purvis McDougallBob StoreyMichael YoungAndrew Faulds
18Spain 2ESP2:23.181:12.86 (18)1:10.32 (18)
Víctor PalomoMaximiliano JonesJosé ClotEugenio Baturone
19Spain 1ESP2:24.321:12.90 (19)1:11.42 (19)
Guillermo RosalNéstor AlonsoJosé Manuel PérezAntonio Marín