Paul Aste (born 5 December 1916) was an Austrian

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 and luger who competed during the 1950s and the 1960s. He also took the

Olympic Oath The Olympic Oath (distinct from the Olympic creed) is a solemn promise made by one athlete, judge or official, and one coach at the Opening Ceremony of each Olympic Games. Each oath taker is from the host nation and takes the oath on behalf of all ...

for athletes at the

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a winter multi-sport event which was celebr ...

in Innsbruck. He was born in

Matrei in Osttirol Matrei in Osttirol is a market town in the Lienz District in the Austrian state of Tyrol (East Tyrol). It is situated about north of Lienz within the Hohe Tauern mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps. Its municipal area comprises parts of th ...

Luge career

As a luger, Aste won seven medals in the

European luge championships The FIL European Luge Championships, part of the International Luge Federation (FIL) have taken place since 1914. From 1914 to 1934, these championships were part of the Internationaler Schlittensportsverband (ISSV - International Sled Sport Federat ...

with five golds (Men's singles:

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 United ...

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

, 1955; Men's doubles:

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

, 1955) and two silvers (Men's singles: 1952, Men's doubles: 1953).

Bobsleigh career

Aste also competed in

bobsleigh 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 ...

during the 1950s and 1960s. He earned two medals in the two-man event 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 a silver in 1955 and a bronze in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

. Aste competed in three

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 ...

for

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in bobsled, earning his best finish of fifth in the four-man event at

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

( Luge would not become a Winter Olympic sport until the 1964 games in Innsbruck.).

Role at the 1964 Winter Olympics

At the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Aste played three roles. His first was as a bobsleigh and luge course designer, creating a separate 13-turn bobsleigh and an 18-turn luge course used for each event. Aste's second role was taking the Olympic Oath for athletes during the opening ceremonies of the games. Finally, Aste finished seventh in the four-man event on the course he designed and constructed the previous year. Aste created some controversy with his recitation of the Olympic oath. Where the traditional oath ended "for the glory of the sports and the honor of our countries", he replaced the word "countries" with "teams". This change was deliberate and reflected Aste's belief that

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

had negatively affected the Games. His one word substitution sparked significant debate, including a direct rebuff from a representative of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Bobsleigh track concern

When the bobsleigh track was completed in time for the 1963 FIBT World Championships in

Igls Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a po ...

, Austria (located southeast of Innsbruck), there were a total of 20 injuries on the track during those championships. Because this event was also part of the Olympic test competition, it would lead to design changes to make the track safer prior to the 1964 games.

References

1956 bobsleigh two-man resultsIOC website on 1964 Winter OlympicsOfficial Olympic Report of the IX Winter Olympics - Innsbruck 1964
pp. 40, 65.

*Wallenchinsky, David. (1984). "Bobsled: Four-Man". In ''The Complete Book the Olympics: 1896-1980''. New York: Penguin Books. p. 561.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aste, Paul 1916 births Possibly living people Austrian male bobsledders Austrian male lugers Bobsledders at the 1952 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 1956 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 1964 Winter Olympics Olympic bobsledders of Austria People from Lienz District Oath takers at the Olympic Games Sportspeople from Tyrol (state)