Fritz Sperling

Three-time Winter Olympian Fritz Sperling was an Austrian bobsledder partnering three different teammates in the two-men bob at the 1972 Sapporo, 1976 Innsbruck, and 1980 Lake Placid Games. He placed 13th at Sapporo with Werner Delle Karth, and finished an unfortunate fourth four years later with Andreas Schwab, despite being in the lead after the second run. With Kurt Oberhöller he finished seventh in 1980.

Sperling also competed in the four-men bob at those three Games, finishing seventh, seventh and fourth, respectively. At the 1978 European Championships he won the gold medal with the four-men bob. However, a few weeks later, Sperling underwent hours of emergency surgery with a fractured skull and serious facial injuries following a horror crash in St. Moritz. Fortunately, he fully recovered.

Previously, Sperling had won the bronze medal with the four-men bob at the 1972 European Championships and in 1973 with the two-men bob. At World Championships, Sperling won one silver (1973) and one bronze medal (1974), both with the four-men bob. By profession, Sperling worked for Swarovski in their technical development for almost four decades and once started the former WSG bobsleigh section into a success story.