FIBT World Championships 1981

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The FIBT World Championships 1981 took place in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy for the seventh time, having hosted the event previously in 1937 (Two-man), 1939 (Four-man), 1950, 1954, 1960, and 1966. Following the death of West Germany's Toni Pensperger at the track in 1966, numerous safety improvements were done at the track which were satisfactory enough for the FIBT to allow the championships to be hosted. These improvements would not be enough as American bobsledder James Morgan was killed during the four-man event. The death of a stuntman on the track during the first day of filming of For Your Eyes Only, done a week after these championships led track officials to shorten the track to its current configuration. Cortina would not host another championship until 1989.

Two man bobsleigh

Pos Team Time
Gold  East Germany (Bernhard Germeshausen, Hans-Jürgen Gerhardt)
Silver  East Germany (Horst Schönau, Andreas Kirchner)
Bronze   Switzerland (Erich Schärer, Josef Benz)

Four man bobsleigh

February 8, 1981

Pos Team Time
Gold  East Germany (Bernhard Germeshausen, Hans-Jürgen Gerhardt, Henry Gerlach, Michael Trübner)
Silver   Switzerland (Hans Hiltebrand, Kurt Poletti, Franz Weinberger, Franz Isenegger)
Bronze   Switzerland (Erich Schärer, Max Rüegg, Tony Rüegg, Josef Benz)

Medal table

 Rank  Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  East Germany 2 1 0 3
2   Switzerland 0 1 2 3

References