Bobsleigh at the Winter Olympics

Bobsleigh is an event in the Winter Olympic Games where a two- or four-person team drives a specially designed sled down an ice track, with the winning team completing the route with the fastest time. The event has been featured since the first Winter Games in 1924 in Chamonix, France, with the exception of the 1960 games in Squaw Valley when the organizing committee decided not to build a track in order to reduce expenses. Other than that exception, the four-man competition has been competed at every game (in 1928, it was a five-man competition). The two-man event was introduced at the 1932 Lake Placid games and a two-woman event was first contested at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

Bobsleigh at the Winter Olympics
IOC CodeBOB
Governing bodyIBSF
Events4 (men: 2; women: 2)
Winter Olympics

Summary

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Games Year Events Best Nation
1 1924 1   Switzerland (1)
2 1928 1   United States (1)
3 1932 2   United States (2)
4 1936 2   Switzerland (2)
5 1948 2   Switzerland (3)
6 1952 2   Germany (1)
7 1956 2   Italy (1)
8
9 1964 2   Canada (1)
  Great Britain (1)
10 1968 2   Italy (2)
11 1972 2   West Germany (1)
12 1976 2   East Germany (1)
13 1980 2   East Germany (2)
Games Year Events Best Nation
14 1984 2   East Germany (3)
15 1988 2   Soviet Union (1)
16 1992 2   Switzerland (4)
17 1994 2   Switzerland (5)
18 1998 2   Germany (2)
19 2002 3   Germany (3)
20 2006 3   Germany (4)
21 2010 3   Germany (5)
22 2014 3   Latvia (1)
23 2018 3   Germany (6)
24 2022 4   Germany (7)
25 2026 4

Events

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Event 24 28 32 36 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 94 98 02 06 10 14 18 22 Years
Four-man [1] 23
Two-man 21
Two-woman 6
Women's monobob 1
Total events 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 4

Medal leaders

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Kevin Kuske (left) and André Lange (pilot) are the most successful Olympic bobsledders, both have five medals, of which four are gold medals attained in three consecutive Olympics.
 
Bogdan Musiol (brakeman) won seven Olympic medals (one gold, five silvers and one bronze in four consecutive Olympics).

Athletes who have won multiple medals (including at least one gold) are listed below.

Athlete NOC Event Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total
Kevin Kuske   Germany (GER) 4-man
2-man
2002–2018 4 2 0 6
André Lange   Germany (GER) 4-man
2-man
2002–2010 4 1 0 5
Francesco Friedrich   Germany (GER) 4-man
2-man
2018-2022 4 0 0 4
Thorsten Margis   Germany (GER) 4-man
2-man
2018-2022 4 0 0 4
Bernhard Germeshausen   East Germany (GDR) 4-man
2-man
1976–1980 3 1 0 4
Meinhard Nehmer   East Germany (GDR) 4-man
2-man
1976–1980 3 0 1 4
Wolfgang Hoppe   East Germany (GDR)
  Germany (GER)
4-man
2-man
1984–1994 2 3 1 6
Eugenio Monti   Italy (ITA) 4-man
2-man
1956,
1964–1968
2 2 2 6
Donat Acklin   Switzerland (SUI) 4-man
2-man
1992–1994 2 1 1 4
Gustav Weder   Switzerland (SUI) 4-man
2-man
1992–1994 2 1 1 4
Markus Zimmermann   Germany (GER) 4-man
2-man
1992–2002 2 1 1 4
Dietmar Schauerhammer   East Germany (GDR) 4-man
2-man
1984–1988 2 1 0 3
Christoph Langen   Germany (GER) 4-man
2-man
1992,
1998–2002
2 0 2 4
Candy Bauer   Germany (GER) 4-man 2018-2022 2 0 0 2
Luciano De Paolis   Italy (ITA) 4-man
2-man
1968 2 0 0 2
Billy Fiske   United States (USA) 4-man
5-man
1928–1932 2 0 0 2
Clifford Gray   United States (USA) 4-man
5-man
1928–1932 2 0 0 2
Olaf Hampel   Germany (GER) 4-man 1994–1998 2 0 0 2
Lorenz Nieberl   West Germany (FRG) 4-man
2-man
1952 2 0 0 2
Andreas Ostler   West Germany (FRG) 4-man
2-man
1952 2 0 0 2
Bogdan Musiol   East Germany (GDR)
  Germany (GER)
4-man
2-man
1980–1992 1 5 1 7
Joseph Benz   Switzerland (SUI) 4-man
2-man
1976–1980 1 2 1 4
Bernhard Lehmann   East Germany (GDR) 4-man
2-man
1976,
1984–1988
1 2 1 4
Erich Schärer   Switzerland (SUI) 4-man
2-man
1976–1980 1 2 1 4
Steven Holcomb   United States (USA) 4-man
2-man
2010–2014 1 2 0 3
Patrick Martin   United States (USA) 4-man
2-man
1948–1952 1 2 0 3
Wolfgang Zimmerer   West Germany (FRG) 4-man
2-man
1972–1976 1 1 2 4
Joseph Beerli   Switzerland (SUI) 4-man
2-man
1936 1 1 0 2
Hans-Jürgen Gerhardt   East Germany (GDR) 4-man
2-man
1980 1 1 0 2
Pierre Lueders   Canada (CAN) 2-man 1994–2006 1 1 0 2
Kurt Meier   Switzerland (SUI) 4-man 1988–1994 1 1 0 2
Jay O'Brien   United States (USA) 4-man
5-man
1928–1932 1 1 0 2
Martin Putze   Germany (GER) 4-man 2006–2010 1 1 0 2
Curtis Tomasevicz   United States (USA) 4-man 2010–2014 1 1 0 2
Beat Hefti   Switzerland (SUI) 4-man
2-man
2002–2016,
2014
1 0 3 4
Oskars Melbārdis   Latvia (LAT) 4-man
2-man
2014–2018 1 0 2 3
Peter Utzschneider   West Germany (FRG) 4-man
2-man
1972–1976 1 0 2 3
Jean Wicki   Switzerland (SUI) 4-man
2-man
1968–1972 1 0 2 3
Carsten Embach   Germany (GER) 4-man 1994–2002 1 0 1 2
Edy Hubacher   Switzerland (SUI) 4-man
2-man
1972 1 0 1 2
Günther Huber   Italy (ITA) 2-man 1994–1998 1 0 1 2
Jānis Ķipurs   Soviet Union (URS) 4-man
2-man
1988 1 0 1 2
Andreas Kirchner   East Germany (GDR) 4-man 1980–1984 1 0 1 2
Vladimir Koslov   Soviet Union (URS) 4-man
2-man
1988 1 0 1 2
Justin Kripps   Canada (CAN) 4-man
2-man
2018–2022 1 0 1 2
Jānis Strenga   Latvia (LAT) 4-man
2-man
2014–2018 1 0 1 2
Roland Wetzig   East Germany (GDR) 4-man 1980–1984 1 0 1 2

Women

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Athlete NOC Event Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total
Kaillie Humphries   Canada (CAN)
  United States (USA)
2-woman 2010–2022 3 0 1 4
Heather Moyse   Canada (CAN) 2-woman 2010–2014 2 0 0 2
Sandra Kiriasis   Germany (GER) 2-woman 2002–2010 1 1 0 2
Mariama Jamanka   Germany (GER) 2-woman 2018–2022 1 1 0 2

Elana Meyers Taylor from the United States has more Olympic bobsleigh medals than any other woman, but is yet to win a gold medal so far; her five medals comprise three silver and two bronze from 2010 through 2022.

Medal table

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Sources (after the 2022 Winter Olympics):[2]
Accurate as of 2022 Winter Olympics.

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  Germany (GER)169732
2  Switzerland (SUI)10101131
3  United States (USA)811928
4  East Germany (GDR)55313
5  Canada (CAN)52411
6  Italy (ITA)44412
7  West Germany (FRG)1326
8  Austria (AUT)1203
9  Great Britain (GBR)1135
10  Latvia (LAT)1023
  Soviet Union (URS)1023
12  Belgium (BEL)0112
  Russia (RUS)0112
14  South Korea (KOR)0101
15  France (FRA)0011
  Romania (ROU)0011
Totals (16 entries)535051154
Notes

Number of bobsledders by nation

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Nation 24 28 32 36 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 94 98 02 06 10 14 18 22 Years
  American Samoa (ASA)   2 1
  Argentina (ARG) 10 4 4   5 4
  Armenia (ARM)   2 2 2
  Australia (AUS)   5 2 4 4 4 7 6 4 2 9
  Austria (AUT) 10 2 12 8 9   9 9 8 10 8 8 8 8 9 8 4 5 5 6 12 10 21
  Belgium (BEL) 5 10 4 8 5 4 2   6 2 2 4 2 12
  Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH)   5 5 2
  Brazil (BRA)   4 4 6 4 4 5
  Bulgaria (BUL)   5 5 2 2 4
  Canada (CAN)   8 6 6 10 6 4 9 9 8 8 8 12 12 16 18 18 16
  China (CHN)   6 12 2
  Chinese Taipei (TPE)   5 5 4 2 4 4 6
  Croatia (CRO)   4 4 5 4 4
  Czech Republic (CZE)   4 5 6 5 8 4 8 4 8
  Czechoslovakia (TCH) 8 4   2 6 4
  France (FRA) 8 10 2 10 10 5 4   10 6 5 4 9 8 5 9 5 8 5 6 19
  East Germany (GDR)   8 8 8 10 4
  West Germany (FRG)   8 8 8 10 10 8 6
  United Team of Germany (EUA) 10   9 2
  Germany (GER) 10 9 10 6   12 12 9 13 14 18 18 18 18 13
  Great Britain (GBR) 8 10 4 10 8   8 8 8 8 10 10 8 8 8 7 14 6 8 8 10 6 22
  Greece (GRE)   2 4 2 3
  Hungary (HUN)   2 4 7 4 4
  Ireland (IRL)   4 5 2 2 4
  Italy (ITA) 10 5 4 10 10 8 10   8 10 9 9 5 9 9 8 9 8 9 12 8 4 4 9 23
  Jamaica (JAM)   4 5 4 6 2 2 2 5 8
  Japan (JPN)   8 4 2 4 4 4 5 9 5 4 6 4 12
  Latvia (LAT)   8 8 6 8 9 5 8 8 5 9
  Liechtenstein (LIE) 2 2   2 3
  Luxembourg (LUX) 5 4   2
  Mexico (MEX) 5   4 7 2 4
  Monaco (MON)   2 5 4 4 5 2 2 2 2 2 10
  Netherlands (NED) 5 2   2 2 8 8 4 6 5 9
  Netherlands Antilles (AHO)   2 2 2
  New Zealand (NZL)   5 2 4 4 4
  Nigeria (NGR)   2 1
  Norway (NOR) 8 9 4   2 4 4 6
  Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR)   10 1
  Poland (POL) 5 6   4 4 4 4 4 4 8
  Portugal (POR)   5 1
  Puerto Rico (PUR)   4 5 5 3
  ROC   12 1
  Romania (ROU) 10 4 9 8   5 5 5 8 8 5 5 5 4 6 6 6 6 8 7 6 20
  Russia (RUS)   6 6 10 11 17 16 6
  San Marino (SMR)   2 1
  Serbia (SRB)   4 2 2
  Serbia and Montenegro (SCG)   4 1
  Slovakia (SVK)   4 4 4 4 1 5
  South Korea (KOR)   4 10 6 9 4
  Soviet Union (URS)   8 10 2
  Spain (ESP) 4   9 2
  Sweden (SWE) 9 9   6 6 4 4 4 4 2 4 2 11
  Switzerland (SUI) 8 10 4 9 8 8 8   8 9 8 8 8 11 10 8 10 10 10 12 8 9 10 12 23
  Trinidad and Tobago (TRI)   2 2 3 2 4
  Ukraine (UKR)   4 2 5 1 4
  Unified Team (EUN)   9 1
  United States (USA) 10 12 11 12 10 11   9 10 9 9 9 10 9 12 10 8 13 12 18 16 16 12 22
  Virgin Islands (ISV)   4 8 6 6 6 5
  Yugoslavia (YUG)   9 2 5 3
Nations 5 14 8 13 9 10 13 - 11 11 11 13 11 16 23 25 30 28 34 22 23 23 21 23 56
Bobsledders 39 115 41 99 71 71 93 - 81 90 79 93 78 111 135 159 155 156 195 150 159 169 164 165 1,961
Year 24 28 32 36 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 94 98 02 06 10 14 18 22 22

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Five-man event
  2. ^ "Olympic Analytics - Medals by Countries". olympanalyt.com. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
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