Eduard Scherrer (bobsledder)

Eduard Scherrer (born April 15, 1890 in Leysin ; † July 4, 1972 ) was a Swiss bobsleigh driver and Olympian from 1924 .

Together with Alfred Schläppi , Heinrich Schläppi and Alfred Neveu , Eduard Scherrer won gold with his Bob Acrobate at the 1st Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix in 1924 .

Eduard Scherrer had won the heavy wooden bobsleigh with the extremely wide runners at a raffle held by the gymnastics club in his home village of Leysin and had never driven a bobsleigh run with it. He persuaded his friends Alfred Schläppi, Heinrich Schläppi and Alfred Neveu to take him down the road from Leysin to Le Sépey to the amusement of the villagers . When they registered for the Swiss competitions for the winter sports week in Chamonix, it was more of a joke. But to their own surprise, the Leysiners were accepted into the Swiss team and drove to Chamonix as blatant outsiders. If the thaw continued, the Acrobate Bobsleigh, thanks to its wide runners and wooden construction, had an advantage over all others and clinched the Olympic victory with three times the fastest time.

Web links

• Eduard Scherrer in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )