About the IMBC
From humble beginnings to an Olympic discipline
A man with an idea
In 2005, Renzo Podar conceived, designed and constructed the first ever Monobob. This sky blue “Podar Mark I” was donated to the Olympia Bob Run and for the first two years was ridden by only two intrepid adventurers: Donald Holstein and Guido Ratti.
Initially, most established bob drivers saw this somewhat bizarre innovation as more of an oddity than something to be taken seriously by real athletes of the two- and four-man Bob disciplines. Not so Sämi Huber. Intrigued by the Monobob idea, he tried it in 2007 and continued driving it and gaining experience and speed throughout the 2007/2008 season.
A handful of pioneers and their passion
In 2008, as word of this new one-rider ice sport spread at the St Moritz Tobogganing Club, and a handful of enterprising Cresta riders saw an opportunity to rekindle the historic relationship between the Bob and the Cresta. They saw that the solo nature of Monobob might better suit Cresta riders than traditional Bob, and that the thrill of this new sport might help attract young riders to the Bob run as well. That season, the International Monobob Club (IMBC) was established by founders Rolf Sachs, Hansjörg Hosch, Sami Huber, Filippo Guerrini Maraldi and Fernando Rueda.
The inaugural IMBC AGM was held on 22nd February 2009 with all of nine members present (who were mainly Cresta riders) and the following officers were elected (see minutes):
President: Hansjörg Hosch
Vice President: Rolf Sachs
Secretary: Sami Huber
Treasurer: Marc Fischer
Meanwhile, Sami Huber became a roving ambassador for the sport and in that year, 2009, he rode his Monobob down almost every bob track in Europe.
In 2010, he took the Monobob into its first appearance at an established event when he was forerunner in the FIBT Bob World cup in St.Moritz.
Arrival on the Scene and the end of teething problems
Ultimately the enthusiasm of the new Club´s members and Rolf Sachs natural charisma won over the Olympia Bob Run and Monobob found a place on the official sporting calendar. On January 8th 2010 the “first Monobob race on earth”, the Sachs Getty Night challenge took place, generously sponsored by Joseph Getty and Rolf Sachs, and won by Marc Fischer.
As racing evolved and riders became more experienced, some design flaws in the original prototype came to light. The front runners were too long and prone to stick in the ice wall, causing unusual risks for Bob and rider alike. A new design, with front runners shortened by 7 cm was introduced and the safety record since has been excellent.
A further big step forward occurred in 2010 when the first Monobob School was established with fifteen beginners. By the end of the season the Club had thirty three members.
On 18th February 2011 Fritz Burkard organised the first Cresta/Monobob competition (‘one man two brides’ and the ‘double top ‘). The trophy was a huge Asprey’s silver wedding cake.
Club rules were instigated and validated in February 2011, by which time the Club had grown to 52 members. This growth continued apace and the IMBC had 64 registered members by the end of the 2012 season.
As more riders with different backgrounds and skill levels acquired a taste for the joys of Monobob, Hansjörg Hosch came up with the idea of introducing a handicap race, and on the 11th February 2012 the first President’s Cup was held.
A suitable trophy was required, and Rolf Sachs selected a lovely but lonely old silver bowl out of his Dracula collection (engraved by Fleetwood Wilson 1897). It was placed on a new wooden socket and engraved with the names of the winners. However, five years later, in the winter of 2017, Stephen Bartley, the honourable archivist of the Cresta, found the original wooden socket with silver engravings which had belonged to the Fleetwood bowl and they were reunited. Since then, a 1903 silver bowl has replaced the venerable Fleetwood as first prize for the President’s race.
Coming of age
Up until 2014, each Podar Monobob was unique, hand-crafted for its owner. This meant that speed and accuracy in Monobob depended on both man and machine rather than driver skill alone. To allow for races on an even playing field, a design competition was held, supported by Omega and FIBT, to develop a new standard Monobob. The winner in 2014 was Sauber Switzerland, the Formula 1 racing team, with their sleek Swissbob won.
IBSF ordered 14 red standardised sleds which were used in the Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer in 2016 and St Moritz in 2020, fulfilling the hope of the founders that young drivers would take to the sport, and crowning their ambition to make Monobob an international sports discipline.
In addition, in 2022, Monobob will become a full Olympic discipline for women.
Thanks to Fritz Burkard and Renzo Podar’s work in adapting the Podar-Sled it is now also used by paraplegic athletes. There have been several parabob events in St. Moritz and elsewhere since 2015, culminating in the IBSF Parabob World Cup. IMBC is hopeful the Monobob will be a discipline in the Paralympics in Beijing in 2022.
In November 2018, when Fritz Burkard stood for election as President of the SMBC, Marc Fischer took over the presidency of IMBC.
As of June 2020 IMBC has over 90 members.
