Lake Placid, February 1932, III Olympic Winter Games. The team USA I, winner of the 4-man bobsleigh event: William FISKE, Edward EAGAN, Clifford GRAY and Jay O'BRIEN. Credit: IOC

Other names: FISKE, William Lindsay, FISKE, Billy

Born: 4 June 1911

Deceased: 17 August 1940

Birthplace: New York (United States)

Nationality: United States

Sport: Bobsleigh

ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES

St. Moritz 1928

Lake Placid 1932

AWARDS

Olympic medals:

Gold: 2

Billy, the boy wonder

Billy Fiske was only sixteen years old when he led a U.S. team to victory in the 1928 five-man bobsled contest. (This was the only time that teams included five men rather than four.) Three of his teammates were chosen after they answered an advertisement in a Paris newspaper even though none of them had ever seen a bobsleigh before.

Four years later, at the 1932 Lake Placid Olympics, the weather was so poor that the four-man bob had to be delayed until after the Closing Ceremony. Fiske's team recorded the fastest time for each of the first three runs, building up a lead of more than four seconds. Another U.S. team, driven by Henry Homburger, made up 2.31 seconds on the final run, but it was not enough to prevent Fiske from winning his second gold medal.

In 1939, Fiske became the first American to join the British Royal Air Force. He was wounded over southern England during the Battle of Britain and died on 17 August 1940, when he was only 29 years old. Fiske was buried in Boxgrove Priory near Chichester and a tablet was placed on his crypt with the inscription, "An American citizen who died that England might live."