Eugenio Monti (23 January 1928 – 1 December 2003) was an Italianbobsledder andalpine skier.[1] He is one of the most successful athletes in the history of the bobsleigh, with tenWorld championship medals (of which nine gold) and 6Olympic medals including two golds. He is known also for his acts ofsportsmanship during the1964 Winter Olympics inInnsbruck,Austria, which made him the first athlete ever to receive the Pierre de Coubertin World Trophy.[2][3][4]
Born inToblach, Italy,The Flying Redhead was the best Italian young skier: he won the national titles inslalom andgiant slalom, and finished third indownhill, but a 1951 accident stopped hisalpine skiing career when he tore ligaments in both of his knees. Monti switched tobobsleigh, finding great success as a result. In 1954 he won his first Italian championship and in 1957 won his first world championship.[1][5]
But it was during the1964 Winter Olympics inInnsbruck that Monti performed the best-known act of his sporting career. Realizing that British bobsleddersTony Nash andRobin Dixon had broken a bolt on their sled, Monti lent them the bolt off his sled. The Britons won the gold medal in the2-man bobsled, while Monti and his teammate took thebronze medal. Answering critics from the home press, Monti told them "Nash didn't win because I gave him the bolt. He won because he had the fastest run." Monti also showed his act of selfless generosity in the four-man competition. There, the Canadian team ofVic Emery had damaged their sled's axle and would have been disqualified had not Monti and his mechanics come to the rescue. The sled was repaired and the Canadian team went on to win the gold medal, while Monti's team took bronze. For these acts of sportsmanship, he was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin World Trophy.[1][6]
Finally, at the1968 Winter Olympics inGrenoble, France, a 40-year-old Monti won a gold in both the two-man and four-man events (the first non-German to do so). After his victory, he received Italy's highest civilian honor – theCommendatore of the Italian Republic and then retired to labor in his skiing facilities in Cortina.[1]
Struck by numerous hardships (separation from his wife, the departure of his daughter for the United States, the death of his son from anoverdose), suffering fromParkinson's disease, on 30 November 2003 he shot himself in the head; transported to the hospital inBelluno, he died the next day.[7]
Italy
