The FIBT World Championships 1978 took place in Lake Placid, New York, United States for the fifth time, hosting the event previously in 1949, 1961, 1969, and 1973.
| 1978 World Championships | |
|---|---|
| Location | Lake Placid, New York |
Two man bobsleigh edit
| Pos | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold |  Switzerland (Erich Schärer, Josef Benz)
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| Silver |  East Germany (Meinhard Nehmer, Raimund Bethge)
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| Bronze |  West Germany (Jakob Resch, Walter Barfuss)
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Four man bobsleigh edit
| Pos | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | East Germany (Horst Schönau, Horst Bernhard, Harald Seifert, Bogdan Musioł)
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| Silver | Switzerland (Erich Schärer, Ulrich Bächli, Rudolf Marti, Josef Benz)
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| Bronze | East Germany (Meinhard Nehmer, Bernhard Germeshausen, Hans-Jürgen Gerhardt, Raimund Bethge)
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Medal table edit
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Germany (GDR) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Switzerland (SUI) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | West Germany (FRG) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (3 entries) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |