Steve Gann
Sandra 12010 Winter Olympics Guide: Bobsleigh
February 7th 2010 22:30
:
2010 Winter Olympics Guide: Bobsleigh
Bobsledding first appeared as an Olympic sport at the 1924 Olympics with women's teams not included until the 2002 games.
Bobsledding events will begin on February 20th and conclude on the 27th with three medal categories for men and women.
History of bobsleigh from Wiki:
Although sledding on snow or ice had been popular in many northern countries, bobsleighing is a relatively modern sport. It originates from two crestas (skeleton sleds) being attached together with a board and a steering mechanism being attached to the front one. English tourists were crossed with the successful marketing and vision of hotelman Caspar Badrutt in the mineral spa town of St Moritz, Switzerland. Badrutt had recently successfully 'sold' the idea of 'winter resorting' to some of his English regulars using a wager as bait for he was annoyed with a four month long season for the rooms, food, alcohol and activities he sold. A year or two later some of his more adventuresome English guests began adapting boys' delivery sleds for recreation and began colliding with pedestrians whilst speeding down the village's lanes and alleys and roads.[citation needed]
This had both short and long term outcomes: in the short term the guests began to scheme about and invent 'steering means' for the sleds, which became the luge, bobsleighs (bobsleds), and head-first skeleton. Long term effects were after a couple more years of happy pedestrian peril, Badrutt built them a special track for their activitiesthe world's first natural ice half-pipe track in about 1870. It is still in operation today and has served as a host track during two Winter Olympics. The track is one of the few natural weather tracks in the world - it doesn't require extra refrigeration. The satisfied guests eventually enabled him to build the Palace Hotel, whilst holding onto the popular Krup Hotel (which catered to different clientele) and brought competition in as winter tourism in alpine locales caught fire.[citation needed]
The first informal races were run on snow-covered roads. The opening of formal competition was in 1884 at St. Moritz. It's not known how much the original track evolved in the early years as the three sports matured and stabilized. The first club was formed in 1897, and the first purpose-built track solely for bobsleds was opened in 1902 outside of St Moritz.[citation needed] Over the years, bobsleigh tracks evolved from straight runs to twisting and turning tracks. The original wooden sleds were replaced by streamlined fibreglass and metal ones.
The Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT) was founded in 1923. Men's four man bobsleigh appeared in the first ever Winter Olympic Games in 1924, and men's two man bobsleigh (two man bobsled) event was added in 1932. Bobsleigh was not included in the 1960 Winter Olympics, but hads been in every Winter Olympics since. Women's bobsleigh competition began in the early 1990s, and women's two woman bobsleigh made its Olympic debut at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Bobsleigh is also contested at American, European, and World Cup championships.
Switzerland and Germany have been the most successful bobsleighing nations using over all successes in European, World, World Cup, and Olympic championships as measurement. The Swiss have won more medals than any other nation, and since the 1990s Germans have been dominant in international competition. Italy, Austria, USA and Canada also have strong bobsleigh traditions.
Bobsleighs can attain speeds well upwards of 150 km/h (93 mph); indeed, in February 2009, a Latvian team posted a record average speed of 152.68 km/h (94.87 mph).[1]
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