The FIBT World Championships 1961 took place in Lake Placid, New York, United States for the second time after hosting the event previously in 1949.
| 1961 World Championships | |
|---|---|
| Location | Lake Placid, New York |
Two man bobsleigh
edit| Pos | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold |  Italy (Eugenio Monti, Sergio Siorpaes)
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| Silver |  United States (Gary Sheffield, Jerry Tennant)
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| Bronze | Italy (Sergio Zardini, Romano Bonagura)
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Monti won his fifth straight championship in this event, a record that still stands as of 2008[update]. Zardini won his third straight championship medal in this event with his third different brakeman.
Four man bobsleigh
edit| Pos | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Italy (Eugenio Monti, Sergio Siorpaes, Furio Nordio, Renzo Alverà)
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| Silver | United States (Stanley Benham, Gary Sheffield, Jerry Tennant, Chuck Pandolph)
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| Bronze |  Sweden (Gunnar Åhs, Gunnar Carpö, Erik Wennerberg, Börje-Bengt Hedblom)
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Medal table
edit| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italy (ITA) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | United States (USA) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Sweden (SWE) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (3 entries) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |