Andreas Benedikt Ostler (21 January 1921 – 24 November 1988), known as "Anderl", was a German

bobsled Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed speed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobs ...

der who competed in the early 1950s. As a teenager during the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936, were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 February 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Nazi Ger ...

in his home town, Anderl Ostler and future teammates at :de:Sportclub (SC) Riessersee became interested in winter sports. The games in 1940 and 1944 were canceled during the war, and Germany was not invited to the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (; ; ; ) and commonly known as St. Moritz 1948 (; ), were a winter multi-sport event held from 30 January to 8 February 1948 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Games were the ...

. At the

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, were a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 1952 in Oslo, the capital of Norway. Discussions about Oslo hosting ...

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, he became the first person to steer both the two-man and four-man bob to gold medals at the same

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

, together with

Lorenz Nieberl Lorenz Nieberl (sometimes spelled as Lorenz Niebert; 7 July 1919, in Munich, Germany – 12 April 1968) was a West German bobsledder who competed in the early 1950s. At the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, he became the first person to win both the ...

pushing and braking. They were wearing American

football helmet A football helmet is a type of protective headgear used mainly in gridiron football, although a structural variation has occasional use in Australian rules football. It consists of a hard plastic shell with thick padding on the inside, a Face ma ...

s. Their 17-year-old two-man bob, officially named "Deutschland I", had written "

Cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cogn ...

" on its fron

https://web.archive.org/web/20070929111641/http://www.djfl.de/entertainment/djfl/1125/112592hintergrund.html

When both German 4-man-teams, rivals since their pre-war youth at :de:Sportclub (SC) Riessersee in Garmisch, only qualified in mid-field, they decided to join forces. With

Friedrich Kuhn Frederich "Fritz" Kuhn (24 October 1919 – 8 January 2005) was a West German bobsledder who competed in the early 1950s. He won a gold medal in the four-man event at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and mo ...

and Franz Kemser, the heaviest members of the other team that withdrew, bob "Deutschland I" won all four heats. The Gold medalists had a combined weight of 472 kg, or an average of 118 kg per person. The rules were soon altered, introducing a limit of 400 kg. The German movie :de:Schwere Jungs (2007) is based on their story. Ostler won four medals at the

FIBT World Championships The IBSF World Championships (known as the FIBT World Championships until 2015), part of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, have taken place on an annual basis since FIBT World Championships 1930, 1930. Starting with 2002, no Wo ...

with two golds in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

and two silvers in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

at home in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, each time both in two-man and four-man. Ostler carried the

flag of Germany The national flag of Germany () is a tricolour (flag), tricolour consisting of three equal horizontal bands displaying the national colours of Germany: Sable (heraldry), black, Gules, red, and Or (heraldry), gold (). The flag was first sight ...

during the opening ceremonies of the

1956 Winter Olympics The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956 ( or ), were a multi-sport event held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from 26 January to 5 February 1956. Cortina, which ...

Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; , ; historical ) sometimes abbreviated to simply Cortina, is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomites, Dolomitic) Alps in the province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the ...

, when Germans took part as

United Team of Germany The United Team of Germany () was a combined team of athletes from West Germany and East Germany that competed in the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Winter Olympic Games, Winter and Summer Olympic Games. In 1956, the team also included athletes from a third ...

. After he retired from

bobsleigh Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed speed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobslei ...

, Ostler became a

gastronomer Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well versed in gastr ...

(

Chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

References

Bobsleigh two-man Olympic medalists 1932–56 and since 1964

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070929091333/http://sports123.com/bob/mw-2.html Bobsleigh two-man world championship medalists since 1931
Bobsleigh four-man world championship medalists since 1930
1921 births 1988 deaths German male bobsledders German chefs Bobsledders at the 1952 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 1956 Winter Olympics Olympic bobsledders for Germany Olympic bobsledders for the United Team of Germany Olympic gold medalists for Germany Olympic medalists in bobsleigh Medalists at the 1952 Winter Olympics 20th-century German sportsmen {{Germany-Winter-Olympic-medalist-stub