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| Event type

Four, Men1

Date20 – 21 February 1998
StatusOlympic
LocationThe Spiral, Asakawa, Nagano
Participants128 from 25 countries
FormatFour runs, total time determined placement.
DetailsCurves: 15
Length: 1360 m
Start Altitude: 1028 m
Vertical Drop: 113 m

Whilst German sleds had won the last three editions of the world championship the German team arrived in Japan without the 1997 champion Wolfgang Hoppe who had retired at the end of the 1997 season. Strong candidates for the medal positions came from as many as eight different countries which was a sign that international competition had become much closer in the preceding years.

Bad weather marred the first day of competition and the scheduled second run was cancelled. The Germany II sled piloted by Christoph Langen was the only crew to record consistently good times over the first two completed runs and held a healthy lead entering the final run. They avoided any serious mistakes and posted a time that gave them a comfortable victory. Behind Langen the other medals were decided by miniscule margins. France were in sixth place after the second run, behind a trio tied for third place, and they were forced to ensure a nervous wait after they completed their run. Both the second Swiss sled and USA I missed the French total time by just 0.02 of a second whilst the British team finished absolutely level with France in what was to prove a tie for bronze behind Switzerland I. France had competed in Olympic bobsleigh since the inaugural event in 1924 but had never before won a medal of any colour. Great Britain’s wait was not quite as long but it had still been 44 years since the British flag had been hoisted at a bobsleigh medal ceremony.

PosCompetitorsNOCTimeRun #1Run #2Run #3
1Germany 2GER2:39.4152.70 (1)52.90 (1)53.81 (=8)Gold
Christoph LangenMarkus ZimmermannMarco JakobsOlaf Hampel
2Switzerland 1SUI2:40.0153.13 (=8)53.15 (2)53.73 (=4)Silver
Marcel RohnerMarkus NüssliMarkus WasserBeat Seitz
=3Great BritainGBR2:40.0652.77 (2)53.58 (10)53.71 (3)Bronze
Sean OlssonDean WardCourtney RumboltPaul Attwood
=3FranceFRA2:40.0653.13 (=8)53.30 (3)53.63 (1)Bronze
Bruno MingeonEmmanuel HostacheÉric Le ChanonyMax Robert
5United States 1USA2:40.0852.93 (4)53.42 (4)53.73 (=4)
Brian ShimerChip MintonRandy JonesGarrett Hines
6LatviaLAT2:40.2652.98 (5)53.50 (=7)53.78 (6)
Sandis PrūsisEgils BojārsJānis OzolsJānis Elsiņš
7Switzerland 2SUI2:40.2852.88 (3)53.47 (6)53.93 (=13)
Christian ReichSteve AnderhubThomas HandschinCédric Grand
8Germany 1GER2:40.3253.12 (7)53.50 (=7)53.70 (2)
Harald CzudajTorsten VossSteffen GörmerAlexander Szelig
=9Canada 1CAN2:40.3953.14 (10)53.44 (5)53.81 (=8)
Pierre LuedersRicardo GreenidgeJack PycDave MacEachern
=9Austria 1AUT2:40.3953.10 (6)53.50 (=7)53.79 (7)
Hubert SchösserPeter LeismüllerErwin ArnoldMartin Schützenauer
11Canada 2CAN2:41.1453.52 (11)53.69 (13)53.93 (=13)
Chris LoriBen HindleMatt HindleIan Danney
12United States 2USA2:41.2753.74 (15)53.72 (14)53.81 (=8)
Jim HerberichDarrin SteeleJohn KasperBob Olesen
13Czech RepublicCZE2:41.2953.61 (12)53.80 (16)53.88 (11)
Pavel PuškárPeter KondrátPavel PolomskýJan Kobián
14Italy 1ITA2:41.4353.84 (16)53.68 (12)53.91 (12)
Günther HuberAntonio TartagliaMassimiliano RotaMarco Menchini
15Japan 1JPN2:41.5553.73 (14)53.87 (18)53.95 (15)
Naomi TakewakiHiroaki OhishiTakashi OhoriMasanori Inoue
16Japan 2JPN2:41.9654.02 (19)53.66 (11)54.28 (16)
Toshio WakitaYasuo NakamuraToshiya OnodaShinji Aoto
17NorwayNOR2:42.0753.96 (18)53.78 (15)54.33 (17)
Arnfinn KristiansenJørn Stian DahlPeter KildalDagfinn Aarskog
18Austria 2AUT2:42.1453.92 (17)53.83 (17)54.39 (18)
Kurt EinbergerThomas BachlerGeorg KuttnerMichael Müller
19Russian FederationRUS2:42.3853.72 (13)53.95 (19)54.71 (20)
Pavel ShcheglovskyAleksey SeliverstovVladislav PosedkinKonstantin Dyomin
20Italy 2ITA2:43.0254.07 (20)54.09 (20)54.86 (22)
Fabrizio TosiniAndrea Pais de LiberaEnrico CostaSergio Chianella
21JamaicaJAM2:43.7654.41 (21)54.55 (22)54.80 (21)
Dudley StokesWinston WattsChris StokesWayne Thomas
22PolandPOL2:43.7954.71 (22)54.45 (21)54.63 (19)
Tomasz ŻyłaDawid KupczykKrzysztof SieńkoTomasz Gatka
23AustraliaAUS2:44.8854.72 (23)54.93 (24)55.23 (24)
Jason GiobbiScott WalkerTed PolglazeAdam Barclay
24HungaryHUN2:44.9255.16 (25)54.82 (23)54.94 (23)
Nicholas FranklPéter PallaiZsolt ZsomborBertalan Pintér
25Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIH2:45.6755.26 (26)55.11 (25)55.30 (25)
Zoran SokolovićNihad MameledžijaEdin KrupalijaMario Franjić
26Chinese TaipeiTPE2:45.9555.30 (27)55.13 (26)55.52 (26)
Sun Kuang-MingDuh Maw-ShengChang Mau-SanCheng Jin-Shan
27RomaniaROU2:46.0655.01 (24)55.37 (27)55.68 (27)
Florian EnacheMarian ChițescuIulian PăcioianuMihai Dumitrașcu
28MonacoMON2:47.1455.58 (28)55.70 (30)55.86 (29)
Albert, Prince GrimaldiPascal CamiaJean-François CalmesGilbert Bessi
29United States Virgin IslandsISV2:47.1655.80 (30)55.52 (28)55.84 (28)
Keith SudziarskiChristian BrownPaul ZarJeff Kromenhoek
30IrelandIRL2:47.2355.79 (29)55.57 (29)55.87 (30)
Jeff PamplinSimon LinscheidGarry PowerTerry McHugh
31GreeceGRE2:48.2655.94 (31)56.18 (32)56.14 (31)
Greg SebaldTasos PapakonstantinouPeter KolotourosJohn-Andrew Kampanis
DQPuerto RicoPUR[2:49.76]56.45 (32)55.96 (31)[57.35] (DQ)2
Liston BochetteJorge BonnetJosé FerrerJoe Keosseian