Bobsleigh at the 1980 Winter Olympics

The bobsled competition at the 1980 Winter Olympics was held from February 15 to February 24 in Lake Placid . Olympic bobsleigh races took place on this route for the second time - almost half a century ago, the Games of 1932 were held here, where there was also a bobsleigh program. During this time, the route has changed significantly, it has become a bit shorter, for the first time a modern chute cooling system was installed here. The total length of the route was 1557 m, height 148 m, and the average gradient - 9.5%.

78 people from 11 countries of the world took part in the competition, two sets of awards were played out. The struggle was mainly between the old and new generations of bobsleighs. The traditionally strong Swiss team that regularly won in many international tournaments clashed with the young GDR team, which, thanks to generous financial injections, was supplemented by many talented athletes. As a result, the Swiss managed to take gold medals in twos and silver in fours, while all the other prizes went to the Germans. It is noteworthy that the twenty-year-old Roland Wetzig , who won the bronze medal with the four-seater crew of the GDR, was the youngest bobsledder in competition.