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 Competition
The first organized competition in the sport was held on the
Cresta Run on January 5, 1898, with five-passenger sleds with
two of the passengers being women. For better steering, they
were equipped with four runners, positioned on axles much
like the four wheels of a car. With the new design, speeds
on the mountainside became dangerously fast, so an artificial
bobsled run with a  gentler
slope was built at St. Moritz in 1902.
Bobsledding spread rapidly to
other Alpine countries. By 1914, when the first European championships
took place at St. Moritz, there were more than a hundred bobsled
runs in Europe.
The Federation Internationale
de Bobsleigh et Tobagganning (FIBT) was founded in 1923 to
establish rules so that the sport could be included in the
first Winter Olympics at Chamonix, France, in 1924. Only four-man
sleds raced there. A five-man competition replaced the four-man
in 1928, but the four-man returned in 1932 (Lake Placid) and
has been on the program ever since.
Interesting Facts
 The
name "bobsledding" came from early racers bobbing
their heads backwards and forwards. It didn't work,
but the name stayed with the sport. - Bobsleigh
and bobsledding are both correct names for the large
sled made up of two sections linked together. The
frame is made of metal, the shell of fiberglass or
similar material. There are two sizes, two-man and
four-man.
- Until
the 1950s, U. S. bobsledders were the best in the
world, in part because of technological innovations.
Bob and Bill Linney in the late 1930s built a two-man
sled with a steel plank as the linkage. The plank's
flexibility allowed much greater speed through turns.
- Olympic
bobsledding competitions include two-man and four-man.
- In
the Olympics and other major competitions, the bobsled
run is at least 1,500 meters (about 1,640 yards) long
and it has about 15 or 20 turns. The average slope
ranges between 8 and 15 percent.
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To
Learn More About Bobsledding
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General
Sports Links
Olympians will compete in dozens of sports this winter. Even
though Gateway to the Winter Games can't feature them all,
you can learn about each and every one by visiting the sites
listed below.
- Griffin
Publishing Group's Official Olympic Sports page
This K-12 education Internet site is filled with Olympic
facts, lesson plans, athlete profiles and more.
- International
Olympic Committee
This official site of the International Olympic Committee
reports Olympic schedules and features an excellent Olympic
History Museum.
- CBS
Sportsline's Olympics 2002
Get top news stories and in-depth features about every sport.
- CCN/SI
In addition to news on every sport, this site contains athlete
diaries.
- NBCOlympics.com
Select a sport to study or hear firsthand from an athlete
who plays it.
- Salt
Lake 2002 Winter Olympics
This is the Official 2002 Winter Olympic site for Salt Lake.
This site has schedules, sports outlines, athlete bios,
and much more.
- ESPN
Salt Lake Winter Games 2002
Get a countdown to the games, with background on some of
the different sports and the participating athletes.
- United
States Olympic Team
The United States Olympic Team site includes athlete bios,
diaries, and pictures. Also, check out the exciting video
and audio clips of the various athletes in action.
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Bobsledding
