Sliding Sports

The Olympic Sliding sports are Bobsleigh, Luge and Skeleton.

Bobsleigh

The idea of racing sleds down a steep and twisting track dates back about 150 years, to the mid-19th century, when British tourists started tobogganing on the snowbound roads of the Alps.

The four-man bobsleigh was on the program of the first Olympic Winter Games in 1924, in Chamonix. The two-man bobsleigh event joined the Olympics in 1932. Women competed in bobsleigh for the first time in 2002, at Salt Lake City.

How It Works

Today's bobsleigh is built to be fast and aerodynamic, with a rounded fibreglass nose and four highly polished steel runners. To start, the racers push off as fast as they can for 35 metres, then jump into the bobsleigh feet first, with the driver's legs inside the nose at the front. The driver sits upright and steers down the track, while the brakeman stops the sled at the end of the run.

There are three Olympic bobsleigh events: the two-person and four-person bobsleigh for men, and the two-person bobsleigh for women. In both the men's and women's events, four heats are held over two days. In all three events, the crew with the lowest combined time, measured to 0.01 seconds, wins.

Luge

Two athletes – Peter Minch of Switzerland and John Robertson of Australia – tied for first in what was called "The Great International Sled Race" of February 12, 1883. Luge races have grown considerably faster since then, with groomed luge runs and aerodynamic equipment, so that speeds now regularly reach 140 kilometres an hour or more. Luge for both men and women made its Olympic debut at the 1964 Games in Innsbruck.

How it Works

In the luge – the French word for "sled" – the racers start by sitting on their open, moulded fibreglass sleds and rocking back and forth in order to burst out of the start. After pulling away, they use spiked gloves on the ice surface for extra acceleration before they lie down on their backs with their feet stretched out in front of them. Luge racers steer using slight shifts of their legs and shoulders, and brake by putting their feet down and pulling up on the sled's two runner blades.

There are two individual or 'singles' luge events in the Olympics, one for men and one for women, and one two-person or 'doubles' event.

The singles events consist of four heats over two days. The individual with the lowest combined time over the four runs wins. Men and women compete on the same track, but the women start from a position further down the course. The four-run format is unique to the Olympic Winter Games and is designed to reward consistency, endurance and ability to withstand pressure, particularly on the second day.

The doubles event consists of two runs over one day, with the fastest total time determining the winner. There is no rule that says a doubles team must comprise members of the same sex, but most countries enter two-man teams.

Skeleton

Like the other sliding sports of bobsleigh and luge, the start is crucial in skeleton – where a tenth of a second lead at the start can become three-tenths of a second by the bottom of the run – so these athletes train much like sprinters to develop the powerful legs they need to explode onto the track. But speed is not the only factor: they must also find the best line and steer smoothly through each turn to keep their speed high.

Men's skeleton was raced at the 1928 and 1948 Olympic Winter Games, both in St. Moritz. Skeleton for both men and women was added as a permanent Olympic event at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

How It Works

Skeleton got its name because the sled the racers use – originally metal, now fibreglass and metal – looks a bit like the human skeleton. To start, a skeleton racer grasps the handles on either side of the skeleton, runs as fast as possible for 50 metres, then dives head first onto the sled. Racers lie on their stomachs and steer by very slightly shifting their bodies.

There are two individual skeleton events in the Olympics, one for men and one for women. Both events consist of four heats held over two days, timed electronically to 0.01 seconds. The individual with the lowest combined time wins.