Bobsleigh

Bobsleigh

A modern bobsleigh team, the 2006 United States four-man team
Highest governing body	Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing
Nickname(s)	Bobsled, Bobsledge
Characteristics
Team members	Teams of 2 or 4
Mixed gender	Yes, but usually in separate competitions
Venue	Bobsleigh tracks
Olympic	1924

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Bobsleigh, bobsled or bobsledge is a winter sport 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 tracks were 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.

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

Modern tracks are made of concrete and artificial ice. They are required to have at least one straight and one 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.

Some bobsled tracks are also used for luge and skeleton competition.

At some tracks there are paid services that offer tourists rides in bobsleighs, including those at Sigulda, Latvia; Calgary, Canada; Lake Placid, USA and Salt Lake City, USA.

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 man), 390 kg (men's 2 man), or 340 kg (women's 2 woman). 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, but were reduced to two- and four-person sleighs in the 1930s. A crew is made up of a pilot, a brakeman, and, in 4 man 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.

Women compete in two woman competitions, and men in both two and four man competitions.

Races

Runs (lauf) 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.

The sleds can go so fast that the 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.

Each run down the course in competition is referred to as a heat. The men's and women's standing for normal races are calculated over the aggregate of two runs or heats. At the Olympic Winter Games and World Championships, all competitions (for both men and women) consist of 4 heats.

See also

• Bobsleigh at the Winter Olympics
• FIBT World Championships
• List of Bobsleigh World Cup champions
• Luge
• Skeleton
• Toboggan

References

Governing bodies

• Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing, the world governing body.

National sites

• Australian Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association, Australia's national team.
• Österreichischer Bob- und Skeletonverband, Austria.
• Confederação Brasileira de Desportos no Gelo, Brazil.
• Bobsleigh CANADA Skeleton, the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in Canada.
• Czech Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association, Czech Republic.
• Bob- und Schlittenverband für Deutschland, Germany.
• British Bobsleigh Association, Great Britain.
• Bobsleebond Nederland, Holland.
• Israeli Bobsled Team, Israel.
• BobItalia, Italy.
• Jamaican Bobsleigh Federation, the national governing body for the sport of bobsled in Jamaica.
• Bobslejs LV, Latvia.
• Norges Ake-, Bob- og Skeletonforbund, Norway.
• Schweitzerischer Bobsleigh-, Schlitten- und Skeleton-Sportverband, Switzerland.
• United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States.

Other sites

• 2006 U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team bios
• Official site of BobTeam USA The official site of US national team member Steven Holcomb and BobTeam USA
• Calgary Bobsled Club, providing access to the track at Canada Olympic Park.
• Alberta Bobsleigh, provincial team in Alberta, Canada.
• British Columbia Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association, Provincial Sport Association in British Columbia, Canada.
• Bobsledding Topics
• GB Womens Bobsleigh Team - World Champions 2009
• Steel and Ice Project, Women's Bobsleigh Portal - providing information on Women's Bobsleigh.
• Statistics
• Jamaica Bobsled-Olympic History
• Usain Bolt 4 Bobsled