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The 1928 Winter Games in St. Moritz marked the first time Germany was allowed to participate in any Olympic competition after World War I. Bobsledding was in the news at the 1928 Games. A new event, the skeleton sled, was added to the program. In addition, teams in the four-man bobsled event had an option to include a fifth member. They all took up that option. Highlights  William "Billy" Fiske of the United States drove the
bobsled team to Olympic glory in St. Moritz.
Only 16, he became — and still is
— the youngest U.S. male athlete to win
a gold medal. He repeated his gold- medal
performance in the bobsled at the 1932
Games, but passed on a third attempt at the
1936 Games because, according to a former
U.S. Olympic teammate, of his disdain for
Germany's leader, Adolf Hitler.
After the outbreak of World War II in
Europe, Fiske joined the Royal Air Force as
a volunteer pilot. On Aug. 16, 1940, he died
in an aerial fight with a German bomber — the first American pilot to die in World War
II.
Source: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
© Copyright 2002 washingtonpost.com
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