Sochi Sports Guide: Bobsleigh

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Date:16-23 February
Venue: Sliding Centre Sanki

Overview

One of the most dangerous and exhilarating winter sports, bobsleigh involves high-speed races down curving ice tracks in multi-person aerodynamic sleds.

Bobsleigh made its Olympic debut at the 1924 Chamonix Games, but the women’s event wasn’t added until the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002. The women’s bobsleigh event in Sochi consists of a two-person race, whilst men compete in two- and four-person races.

Jargon buster

Push: To start the race, athletes run with the bobsleigh to push it over 50m before jumping in. This builds momentum for the race.

Loading: The move in which athletes jump into the sled after the push start.

Driver: Typically the first person to load at the start, the driver sits in the front of the bobsled and steers down the track.

Brakeman: The team member who sits in the back of the bobsled and is responsible for controlling the breaks. The brakeman is usually the last person to load the sled at the start.

Kreisel: As in luge, a kreisel is a circle-shaped curve that forms when the track crosses over itself (called such after the German word for ‘circle’).

Labyrinth: As in skeleton and luge, this is a stretch on an ice track formed entirely of curves (usually 4 or 5 curves), with no straight-line stretch.

Basic rules

Olympic bobsleigh features three events; pairs races for both men and women, and a fours race for men. Each competition is held over two days, with each team completing two runs per day for a total of four runs. Times are added together, and the team with the fastest total time is declared winner.

Bobsled teams are made up of a driver and a brakeman in the pairs races, with two additional crewmen added in the four-man event. To start the race, the crew runs with the sled, pushing it over a distance of about 50m. In top-level competition this is typically covered in under six seconds, and sleds reach speeds of over 40km/h before the crew loads in.

The starting orders in Olympic races are based on world rankings, with the top-ranked teams going first. This is critical—there is an advantage to racing first whilst the track ice is still smooth.

Ones to watch

For Team GB, Paula Walker and Rebekah Wilson (pictured above) will compete in a pair and are looking to push for a medal. Walker was part of a pair that finished tenth in the 2010 Olympics and the two together won the World Junior Championships in 2011.

Rivalries and favourites

Kaillie Humphries won gold with Heather Moyse in Vancouver and subsequently took gold at the 2012 and 2013 World Championship in pairs with Jennifer Ciochetti and Chelsea Valois respectively. Humphries is back with Moyse for Sochi and the pair is a strong favourite to once again take gold.

Who to follow on Twitter

@GBBobsleigh
@paulawalkerGB
@BexGBbobsleigh – Rebekah Wilson

Olympic fact

Albert II, Prince of Monaco, and son of Rainier III and Grace Kelly, is a five-time Olympian in bobsleigh. He retired after the Salt Lake City games 2002 and is now a member of the IOC.

Erin Walters, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine

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