Eugenio Monti was an Italian bobsledder and alpine skier. He is one of the most successful athletes in the history of the bobsleigh, with ten World championship medals and 6 Olympic medals including two golds. He is known also for his acts of sportsmanship during the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, which made him the first athlete ever to receive the Pierre de Coubertin medal.
Eugenio Monti, in the driver's seat of his bob, in 1960s
Bobsleigh is an event in the Winter Olympic Games where a two- or four-person team drives a specially designed sled down an ice track, with the winning team completing the route with the fastest time. The event has been featured since the first Winter Games in 1924 in Chamonix, France, with the exception of the 1960 games in Squaw Valley when the organizing committee decided not to build a track in order to reduce expenses. Other than that exception, the four-man competition has been competed at every game. The two-man event was introduced at the 1932 Lake Placid games and a two-woman event was first contested at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
Kevin Kuske (left) and André Lange (pilot) are the most successful Olympic bobsledders, both have five medals, of which four are gold medals attained in three consecutive Olympics.