Four, Men

In the two decades since the Sapporo Olympics only the victory of the Soviet Union at the 1988 Winter Games had ruined a perfect run of World and Olympic titles divided between Germany and Switzerland. The 1992 title was again expected to be contested between these two superpowers of the sport. Before competition started the Germans suffered a setback when Germany II’s pilot Horst Czudaj was accused of spying on his team mates for the East German security forces in the late eighties. Although he was eventually cleared to compete, the controversy appeared to affect his concentration and he finished no higher than sixth.

The struggle for the Olympic gold was intense but it was neither a German or Swiss crew that stood on the top step of the podium at the end of the second day. Ingo Appelt and Austria I had been third in the 1990 World Championships but was not expected to challenge for the gold in Albertville. The Austrians made up for a poor second run by producing three excellent ones and had just 0.02 of a second to spare when they crossed the line.

Canada II’s Olympic adventure ended in high farce. It was true that they crossed the line safely enough on the third run but without twenty-five percent of their crew. Jack Pyc had slipped at the start, failed to get into the bob and slid around several corners before coming to a halt. The team were disqualified. A similar fate nearly befell a Unified Team crew member as he also slipped attempting to enter his sled. Oleksandr Bortiuk did make it into the bob albeit facing in the opposite direction to which he intended.