Joseph "Josef" or "Sepp" Benz (20 May 1944 – 5 February 2021) was a Swiss

bobsled Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

der who competed from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. Competing in two

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) 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 h ...

, he won four medals with one gold (Two-man: 1980), two silvers (Four-man:

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

, 1980), and one bronze (Two-man: 1976).

Career

Benz, who was born in Zurich, won eight 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 1930. Starting with 2002, championships of non-Winter Olympi ...

with three golds (Two-man: 1978,

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

; Four-man:

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

), two silvers (Four-man:

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

, 1978), and three bronzes (Two-man:

, Four-man: 1979, 1981). In 2008, he was named chairman of the Sport Commission for artificial track luge for the

International Luge Federation The International Luge Federation ( French: Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (FIL); German: Internationaler Rennrodelverband) is the main international federation for all luge sports. Founded by 13 nations at Davos, Switzerland in ...

(FIL). Benz also was a postal clerk in his native Switzerland. He served as chairman of the FIL Youth Commission before serving as chairman of the Sport Commission from 2008 to 2014. During his tenure in Artificial track, Benz created the team relay event that was first held at the 2008 world championships and became an event at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Death

Benz died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

on 5 February 2021, aged 76, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland The COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Switzerland on 25 February 20 ...

.FIL trauert um ehemaliges Exekutivmitglied Josef Benz

References

External links

* 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
*

- accessed 27 June 2008. * ttps://www.fil-luge.org/en/news/fil-mourns-former-executive-board-member-josef-benz FIL-Luge listing of Benz's 5 February 2021 death.- accessed 6 February 2021
IBSF listing of Benz's 5 February 2021 death.
- accessed 6 February 2021. * * 1944 births 2021 deaths Sportspeople from Zürich Swiss male bobsledders Swiss referees and umpires Olympic bobsledders of Switzerland Olympic medalists in bobsleigh Olympic gold medalists for Switzerland Olympic silver medalists for Switzerland Olympic bronze medalists for Switzerland Bobsledders at the 1976 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 1980 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1980 Winter Olympics Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland 20th-century Swiss people {{Switzerland-Winter-Olympic-medalist-stub