Two, Men

West Germany’s Wolfgang Zimmerer had added both the 1973 and 1974 World Championship titles to his Sapporo Olympic titles but had missed out on the medals in 1975 where Italy’s Giorgio Alverà had won on his home track in Cervinia. Other challenges were expected from the traditional Central Alpine bobsleigh nations of Austria and Switzerland but tradition was to count for little as a new force in the sport of bobsleigh came to the fore. The first East German sleds appeared at the beginning of the 1972-73 winter season and immediately began to produce impressive results with the pairing of the converted javelin thrower Nehmer and decathlete Bernhard Germeshausen finishing in the top six of their maiden World Championships despite minimal experience. The pair continued to improve over the next seasons, although a world medal eluded them, but it was still a surprise when they made their breakthrough at the 1976 Winter Games. Austria II led after the first run but Nehmer recorded the fastest times on the three remaining runs and ran out comfortable winners over Zimmerer piloting West Germany I.