HOME

History

History: Although sleds have been around for centuries, bobsled racing didn't begin until 1877 in Davos, Switzerland, where a steering mechanism was attached to a toboggan. The world's first "bobsleigh" club was founded in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in 1896, spurring the growth of the sport in winter resorts throughout Europe. By 1914, bobsled races were taking place on a wide variety of natural ice courses. The first racing sleds were made of wood but were soon replaced by steel sleds that came to be known as bobsleds, so named because of the way crews bobbed back and forth to increase their speed on the straightaways. In 1923, the Federation Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT) was founded and the following year a four-man race took place at the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France. A two-man event was added at the 1932 Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y., a format that has remained to the present. American-built sleds and American athletes ruled the sport until the late 1950s, when Europeans came out with better sleds. By far, the most successful bobsledding nations have been Switzerland and Germany.

How It Works: Two- and four-man teams (women in two sled event - 2002 Olympics) fly down a mile-long, ice-covered course in an aerodynamic sled at speeds of as much as 90 mph. The team with the fastest combined time after two runs gets the gold. The two- or four-man crews push-start the sled and jump in. The crewman in front steers the sled and is called the driver. The man in the back is the brakeman. On the four-man team, the other two are called side-push men. The push-start is crucial; it, and gravity, are all the power allowed. The two-man team — sled and crew combined — can weigh no more than 858 pounds, and the four-man no more than 1,386 pounds. Crews falling under these restrictions may add weights to the sled. The sled's runners may not be heated — their temperatures are taken before each race — nor lubricated.

Nuts and Bolts: To steer, the driver holds ropes connected to polished steel runners. Most drivers wear gloves; some steer bare-handed to have a better feel for the ropes. Crew members shift weight to help the driver steer — they can't see the track ahead, but learn the timing of a particular run's curves. Speeds can reach 90 miles per hour, and runs take less than a minute. When braking, the crew feels five times the force of gravity.

History,How It Works and Nuts and Bolts: from a 1997 washingtonpost.com article Everything You Need to Know About Bobsled

International Bobsleigh and Tobogganing Federation (FIBT)
United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation (USBSF)
British Bobsleigh Association
USBSF History Page