|
| Event type

Four, Men

Date26 – 27 February 1994
StatusOlympic
LocationOlympiske Bob- og Akebane, Hunderfossen
Participants121 from 21 countries
FormatFour runs, total time determined placement.
DetailsCurves: 16
Length: 1365 m
Start Altitude: 347 m
Vertical Drop: 107 m

The 1994 Olympic four-man bobsleigh had the makings of a classic. The list of medal contenders appeared longer than for any previous Olympics. While the Central European powers were still strong, a new generation of drivers from outside the traditional bobsleigh zone were threatening to break through. Gustav Weder had driven Switzerland I to the 1993 World Championship and the two-man event at Lillehammer and was a major medal threat but so were the German crews headed by Wolfgang Hoppe and Harald Czudaj, and Brian Shimer of the USA had taken the 1993 World Cup title. Shimer’s reign as title holder had been ended in 1994 by the brilliant young Canadian Pierre Leuders and also challenging the established powers were Great Britain.

Shimer, driving USA II, had a disastrous Olympics as a poor first run was followed by the ignominy of disqualification for having runners that were warmer than legally permitted. Lueders’ Canadians failed to spark and once again it was left to Germany and Switzerland to monopolise the podium.

Harald Czudaj had been a favourite at the 1992 Games but his preparations were ruined when it was revealed shortly before competition began that he acted as an informer for the Stasi, the East German secret police, for a number of years in the 80s in exchange for dropping a drunk-driving charge. Free from the worries of Albertville he was never headed though his lead was never more than 0.12 seconds throughout. Behind Czudaj’s Germany II bob came Weder’s Swiss world champions and the trio of medallists was completed by Wolfgang Hoppe piloted Germany I. This was Hoppe’s sixth and final Olympic medal and he retired with a tally of two gold, three silver and a bronze.

Jamaica’s appearance at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary had been considered a novelty but in Lillehammer they not only finished in the top half of the field but also defeated sleds from more traditional bobsleigh nations such as the United States, Italy and France. Last of the 29 finishers were the crew from Bosnia-Herzegovina who were competing just two years after the nation gained its’ independence and while fighting was still taking place in the country. The quartet was a multi-ethnic one comprising two Bosnian Muslims, an ethnic Croat and an ethnic Serb and competed using a sled donated by the Dutch.

PosCompetitorsNOCTimeRun #1Run #2Run #3Run #4
1Germany 2GER3:27.7851.67 (1)51.88 (2)52.07 (2)52.16 (3)Gold
Harald CzudajKarsten BrannaschOlaf HampelAlexander Szelig
2Switzerland 1SUI3:27.8451.80 (4)51.87 (1)52.04 (1)52.13 (1)Silver
Gustav WederDonat AcklinKurt MeierDomenico Semeraro
3Germany 1GER3:28.0151.82 (5)51.91 (3)52.14 (=3)52.14 (2)Bronze
Wolfgang HoppeUlf HielscherRené HannemannCarsten Embach
4Austria 1AUT3:28.4051.76 (2)52.04 (4)52.23 (5)52.37 (4)
Hubert SchösserGerhard RedlHarald WinklerGerhard Haidacher
5Great Britain 1GBR3:28.8752.03 (=8)52.24 (7)52.14 (=3)52.46 (7)
Mark ToutGeorge FarrellJason WingLenny Paul
6Austria 2AUT3:28.9151.94 (6)52.22 (6)52.32 (9)52.43 (6)
Kurt EinbergerThomas BachlerCarsten NentwigMartin Schützenauer
7Switzerland 2SUI3:29.3351.98 (7)52.16 (5)52.58 (=15)52.61 (14)
Christian MeiliRené SchmidheinyGerold LöfflerChristian Reich
8Great Britain 2GBR3:29.4152.23 (12)52.45 (=13)52.26 (6)52.47 (8)
Sean OlssonJohn HerbertDean WardPaul Field
9Italy 2ITA3:29.4251.78 (3)52.29 (=9)52.60 (17)52.75 (=17)
Günther HuberAntonio TartagliaBernhard MairMirco RuggieroStefano Ticci
10Czech RepublicCZE3:29.5152.35 (14)52.45 (=13)52.31 (=7)52.40 (5)
Jiří DžmuraPavel PuškárPavel PolomskýJan Kobián
11Canada 2CAN3:29.5652.11 (10)52.32 (11)52.57 (14)52.56 (12)
Chris LoriChris FarstadSheridon BaptisteGlenroy Gilbert
12Canada 1CAN3:29.5752.22 (11)52.51 (17)52.31 (=7)52.53 (11)
Pierre LuedersDave MacEachernJack PycPascal Caron
13Latvia 1LAT3:29.8152.49 (17)52.27 (8)52.55 (=12)52.50 (9)
Zintis EkmanisBoriss ArtemjevsAldis IntlersDidzis Skuška
14JamaicaJAM3:29.9652.50 (18)52.56 (18)52.39 (10)52.51 (10)
Dudley StokesWinston WattsChris StokesWayne Thomas
15United States 1USA3:29.9752.03 (=8)52.42 (12)52.77 (19)52.75 (=17)
Randy WillJeff WoodardJoe SawyerChris Coleman
16France 2FRA3:30.0452.43 (15)52.49 (=15)52.54 (11)52.58 (13)
Bruno MingeonPhilippe TanchonGabriel FourmigueÉric Le Chanony
17SwedenSWE3:30.3252.53 (19)52.49 (=15)52.58 (=15)52.72 (15)
Fredrik GustafssonJörgen KruseLennart WestermarkHans Byberg
18JapanJPN3:30.6752.56 (21)52.83 (23)52.55 (=12)52.73 (16)
Naomi TakewakiHiroyuki OshimaHiroshi SuzukiTakashi Ohori
19Latvia 2LAT3:30.8152.67 (22)52.66 (20)52.69 (18)52.79 (19)
Sandis PrūsisJuris ToneOtomārs RihtersAdris Plūksna
20AustraliaAUS3:31.0252.48 (16)52.67 (21)52.85 (20)53.02 (20)
Justin McDonaldAdam BarclayScott WalkerGlenn Carroll
21France 1FRA3:31.1852.54 (20)52.61 (19)52.89 (21)53.14 (22)
Christophe FlacherThierry TribondeauClaude DasseMax Robert
22Italy 1ITA3:31.9552.87 (23)52.78 (22)52.97 (22)53.33 (23)
Pasquale GesuitoPaolo CanediSilvio CalcagnoAntonio Stiffi
23RomaniaROU3:32.1852.92 (24)53.02 (24)53.19 (23)53.05 (21)1
Florian EnacheMarian ChițescuIulian PăcioianuMihai Dumitrașcu
24Russian FederationRUS3:33.1853.15 (25)53.20 (25)53.44 (24)53.39 (24)
Oleg SukhoruchenkoAydar TeregulovSergey KruglovOleg Petrov
25Puerto RicoPUR3:34.0253.52 (26)53.50 (26)53.57 (25)53.43 (25)
Liston BochetteJosé FerrerJorge BonnetDouglas Rosado
26MonacoMON3:34.6253.54 (27)53.58 (27)53.75 (26)53.75 (26)
Albert, Prince GrimaldiDavid TomatisPascal CamiaGilbert Bessi
27UkraineUKR3:35.3253.61 (28)53.75 (28)53.99 (27)53.97 (28)
Oleksiy ZhukovAndriy PetukhovVasyl LantukhOleksandr Bortiuk
28United States Virgin IslandsISV3:35.6553.79 (29)53.82 (29)54.23 (28)53.81 (27)
Zachary ZollerPaul ZarDavid EntwistleAlexander Poe
29Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIH3:39.7754.77 (30)54.80 (30)55.10 (29)55.10 (29)
Zoran SokolovićIzet HaračićNizar ZaciragićIgor Boras
DQUnited States 2USA52.25 (13)52.29 (=9)– (DQ)2
Brian ShimerBryan LeturgezKarlos KirbyRandy Jones