Bobsledding is a winter sport invented by Englishmen in the late 1860s in which teams make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled. The various types of sleds came several years before the first track was built in St Moritz, where the original bobsleds were adapted upsized Luge/Skeleton sleds designed by the adventurously wealthy to carry passengers. All three types were adapted from boys delivery sleds and toboggans Competition naturally followed, and to protect the working class and rich visitors in the streets and byways of St Moritz, hotel owner Caspar Badrutt, owner of the historic Krup Hotel and the later Palace Hotel built the first familiarly configured 'half-pipe' track circa 1870. It has hosted the sports during two Olympics and is still in use today. In the United States and Canada the sport is known as bobsled; in Brazil it is bobsledge.

International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT). National competitions are often governed by bodies such as the United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation and Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton.

Tracks

A modern bobsleigh team, the 2006 United States two-woman teamModern tracks are made from concrete and artificial ice. They are required to have at least one straight and labyrinth. Ideally, a modern track should be 1200 to 1300 metres long and have at least fifteen curves. Speeds may exceed 130 km/h, and some curves can subject the crews to as much as 5 g.

There are thirteen top-level competition tracks in the world:

Country	City	Length (m)	Vertical Drop (m)	Maximum Grade (%)	Curves
Austria	Igls	1 220	98.10	14	14
Canada	Calgary	1 475	121.2	15	14
France	La Plagne	1 507.5	124.5	14.5	19
Germany	Altenberg	1 413	122.22	15	17
	Königssee	1 250	117	?	12
	Winterberg	1 325	110	14.5	14
Italy	Cesana	1 435	117	9.2â€	19
	Cortina d'Ampezzo	1 350	120.45	16	11
Japan	Nagano	1 762.3	112.5	15	13
Norway	Lillehammer	1 365	114.3	15	16
Switzerland	St. Moritz	1 722	129	15	13
United States	Lake Placid	1 455	107	9.8%â€	20
	Salt Lake City	1 340	103.9	?	15
Latvia	Sigulda	1 420	-	-	-

Average grade

Bobsleigh tracks are also used for luge and skeleton competition.

Sleighs and crews

Modern sleighs combine light metals, steel runners, and an aerodynamic composite body. Competition sleighs must be a maximum of 3.80 m long (4-crew) or 2.70 m long (2-crew). The runners on both are set at 0.67 m gauge. Until the weight-limit rule was added in 1952, bobsleigh crews tended to be very heavy. Now, the maximum weight, including crew, is 630 kg (4-crew), 390 kg (men's 2-crew), or 340 kg (women's 2-crew). Metal weights may be added to reach these limits, as greater weight makes for a faster run.

Bobsleigh crews once consisted of five or six people; they were reduced to two- and four-person sleighs in the 1930s. A crew is made up of a pilot, a brakeman, and, in 4-crew only, two pushers. Athletes are selected based on speed and strength, necessary to push the sleigh to a competitive initial speed at the start of the race. Pilots must have the skill, timing and finesse to drive the sleigh along the best possible line to achieve the greatest possible speed. In the early 1950's weighting was introduced to compensate for the natural advantage of having a heavier team.

Women compete in two-crew events, and men in both two- and four-crew competition.

Races

Runs begin from a standing start, with the crew pushing the sled for up to fifty metres before boarding. The runners of the sled follow grooves in the ice for this distance, so steering is unnecessary until after the sleigh exits the starting area. Races can be lost in the initial push but are rarely won there. Over the rest of the course, the sleigh's speed depends on its weight, aerodynamics, and runners; the condition of the ice; and the skill of the driver.

Race times are measured in hundredths of seconds, so any error can have a significant impact on the final race standings. Even small errors make for small decreases in speed and commensurate increases in time. Because any decrease in speed affects the sleigh for the remainder of the course, errors made high on the track will have a greater effect than those made closer to the finish.

The men's and women's standing are calculated over the aggregate of two runs. At the Olympic Winter Games and World Championships, all competitions (for either men or women) consist of 4 heats.

External Links

Governing bodies

Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing, the world governing body.
Bobsleigh CANADA Skeleton, the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in Canada.
Jamaican Bobsleigh Federation, the national governing body for the sport of bobsled in Jamaica.
United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States.

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