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It’s a shock to the Swiss sport of bobsleigh and luge. Josef “Sepp” Benz dies on Friday in Zurich at the age of 76, as it became known on Saturday. It is the corona virus that tears Benz out of his life.
Former pusher of bobsleigh legend Erich Schärer (74) would have actually been in St. Moritz this weekend as a Swiss slip official: Benz himself, as manager of the Swiss toboggan division, went around behind the scenes and he brought the World Cup final to the Engadine because this could not happen in Beijing because of the crown. Tragic: Now the St. Gallen resident himself is a victim of the insidious virus.
In his sporting heyday, on Schärer’s sledge, Benz was “the brake of the nation” and the “fastest postman in Switzerland”. Schärer / Benz became two-time Olympic champions at Lake Placid in 1980. They also won two Olympic silver medals and one bronze, and together they became world and European champions.
“He was an extreme in everything”
Schärer was deeply affected by the death of his legendary brakeman. He is in contact with the Benz partner and tells BLICK: “It hurts a lot. He was still young … The virus had caught him three weeks ago, but in between his condition had improved again. We will miss you.”
Benz was known to be obsessed with training during his career. Between his postman rounds through his Zurich foster home, he worked hard on his fitness, anyway over the weekend. “He was an extreme in everything”, says Schärer, “with him you always had to take everything into account”.
Benz’s resignation is also legendary. «We went to Cortina. He got out of the car and yelled: That’s it! “Recalls Schärer, who says of Benz:” It was fine with us. If we hadn’t worked so well as a team, we would never have been so successful. “
Schärer loses two friends in a week
After his career, Benz was mainly engaged in sledding, also actively participated in the international association and invented the relay team. At the Swiss Association, Benz was in the process of handing over some duties to Nina Reithmayer this winter.
Sliding President of Switzerland Sepp Kubli: “We are shocked. Also because after Walter Graf we will lose a second honorary member in a few days. “Erich Schärer also sadly says:” This week I lost two friends. “
