Franz Kapus ( German: Franz Kapus , April 12, 1909 , Zurich - March 4, 1981 , ibid.) - Swiss bobsledder , pilot, who played for the Swiss national team in the late 1940s - mid 1950s. Participant of the three Winter Olympic Games, champion of the Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo , world champion.
 Franz Kapus | |
|---|---|
| Full name | him. Franz kapus |
| Citizenship |  Switzerland |
| Date of Birth | April 12, 1909 |
| Place of Birth | Zurich |
| Date of death | March 4, 1981 (71 years old) |
| Place of death | Zurich |
| Growth | 172 cm |
| Weight | 72 kg |
| Career | |
| Position | pilot |
| Club | Bob-Club Zürichsee |
| Status | completed his career |
| Last updated: February 7, 2012 | |
Biography
Franz Kapus was born on April 12, 1909 in Zurich . From an early age he became interested in sports, was engaged in gymnastics, swimming, shvingen , took part in amateur boxing tournaments. He became interested in Bobsleigh relatively late, but it was this sport that brought him world fame. Immediately after being selected for the Swiss national team, he began to show good results, thanks to which he was awarded the right to defend the honor of the country at the 1948 Olympic Games in St. Moritz , while the debut was not very successful - only eighth in the four.
At the 1950 World Cup in Italy, Cortina d'Ampezzo Capus took bronze in the program of four-seater crews, a year later he repeated this achievement in competitions in the Alpe d'Huez. [1] In 1952 he went to fight for medals at the Olympics in Oslo , but again was left without prizes, having arrived in fourth place in fourth place. The Swiss proved to be very successful for the 1955 world championship in St. Moritz, when he won gold in the four and bronze in the two. At the 1956 Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, he also competed in two disciplines at once, with a double crew finished seventh, but in the four, which also included accelerating Gottfried Diener , Robert Al and Heinrich Angst , he reached the first place, ahead of all rivals and finally got a gold Olympic medal.
At that time he was already 46 years old, so soon after these competitions, Franz Kapus decided to end his career as a professional athlete, giving way to young Swiss pilots. Being a mechanic by profession, he brought to the bobsleigh many innovations related to the construction of beans. For example, he was the first among all athletes to develop such sledges in which the pilot not only sits and controls, but also accelerates them together with partners. In the 1970s, Kapus collaborated with the Japan Bobsleigh Union to help them design the track for the Sapporo Olympic Games.
He died on March 4, 1981 in Zurich.
Notes
Links
- List of World Championship winners on the official FIBT website
- Franz Kapus - results of Olympic performances at sports-reference.com