Rieden/Switzerland (RWH) Ekkehard Fasser, 1988 Olympic 4-man bobsleigh Champion from Switzerland, passed away. The native of Glarus, who lived in Rieden, St. Gallen, died after a serious illness at the age of 68. This was announced by the Swiss association Swiss Sliding.
Fasser had caused one of the biggest surprises at the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary, Canada, by winning the gold medal in the large sled. Together with the push athletes Kurt Meier, Marcel Fässler and Werner Stocker, Fasser relegated the 4-man bobsleigh GDR 1 with the top favourites Wolfgang Hoppe, Dietmar Schauerhammer, Bogdan Musiol and Ingo Voge to second place with a lead of seven hundredths of a second.
Immediately after the race, Fasser, a construction manager, declared his retirement from competitive racing. As an amateur pilot and official of Swiss Sliding, however, Fasser, who had become European Champion in the 4-man bobsleigh in Sarajevo in the former Yugoslavia in 1983 and World Champion in Lake Placid (USA) in the same year, remained intricately connected to the sport of bobsleigh.
>> Press release Swiss Sliding
Photo: Swiss Sliding
