Luge and Skeleton Bobsledding - The Canadian Encyclopedia History Luge and Skeleton Bobsledding Tobogganing developed independently in eastern Canada among native tribes who used their transportation sleighs for occasional fun. It was refined by groups such as the Montreal Tobogganing Club, the first such club in Canada, formed in 1881. Bobsledding, Luge and Skeleton Sledding, or tobogganing, was first recorded in the 16th century. Modern racing began in Switzerland in the mid-19th century. Three forms of tobogganing developed: a bobsleigh, or sleigh, has 2 axles and 2 pairs of runners, is steered with a wheel, rope or bungie cord and is operated by teams of 2 or 4 racers; luge uses a single sled (a 1- or 2-seater) with the rider lying back from a sitting position; in Cresta tobogganing the rider lies on his chest. In the later 19th century skeleton was introduced, where a single athlete slides on a sheet-like sled face down and head first in the prone position.

Tobogganing developed independently in eastern Canada among native tribes who used their transportation sleighs for occasional fun. It was refined by groups such as the Montreal Tobogganing Club, the first such club in Canada, formed in 1881. Most sleds could take as many as 4 riders; some accommodated 12. Tobogganing was one of Canada's prime winter sports in the 19th century. The Montmorency Ice Cone, outside Québec City, was a popular site for recreational sledding. When the sport grew less popular in Canada after the 1880s, the original toboggan runs were abandoned. Canadian competitors were forced to practise in Europe or at Lake Placid, NY, until 1985, when the Bobsleigh and Luge Track, built for the 1988 Winter Olympic Games, was permanently opened at Calgary Olympic Park. A track was also constructed in Salt Lake City, Utah, for the 2002 Winter Olympics and has been in operation since 1997. Skeleton was also reintroduced during the 2002 Games.

BARBARA SCHRODT Bobsleigh Bobsleigh racing started in 1881. Today 31 countries participate. It is a highly technical and physically demanding sport. Pushing the steel and fibreglass sled (the 2-man sled weighs 210 kg and the 4-man, 390 kg, without crew) from a dead start takes great strength, speed and timing. The driver's skill in maneuvering 16 curves over the 1500 m course while taking the "fastest line" can mean the difference between winning and losing. Speeds can reach up to 150 km/hr, and the crew experiences up to 5 G's of gravitational force. The Canadian Amateur Bobsleigh and Luge Association was formed in 1957 and the first Canadian team entered international competition in 1959. In 1962, a 4-man team led by Lamont Gordon won the Commonwealth bobsleigh championship. The EMERY brothers, Victor and John, who had formed the Laurentian Bobsledding Association in 1957, began racing in world competition in 1959.

By 1964, with Douglas Anakin and Peter Kirby, they had gained the experience necessary to challenge the world's best at the Olympic Games at Innsbruck, Austria. Despite few opportunities to practise, they set a record time in their first run and won the gold medal. The Canadian team, again led by Vic Emery, retained its title at the 1965 world championships. Canadian sledders, led by Greg Haydenluck and Chris Lori, returned to international competitiveness in the late 1980s. Both drivers (now retired from competition) won World Cup races and placed consistently in the medals in both 2-man and 4-man competitions. In 1998 the 2-man bobsleigh team of Pierre Lueders of Edmonton and David MacEachern of Charlottetown won gold in the Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan, finishing in an identical overall time with the Italian team. Lueders managed to secure a spot on the Olympic team at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics where he placed 5th and 9th in 2- and 4-man competition.

Lueders continued to have successful runs with other partners, consistently placing at the top of world standings in the years that followed, and he achieved Olympic success once again when, in 2006 at Torino, he and Jamaican-born bobsledder Lascelles Brown beat the odds in severe weather to win the silver medal. Pierre Lueders continues to be Canada's most renowned bobsledder, and prior to the 2010 Olympics he had amassed 8 world championship medals and 88 World Cup medals in addition to his gold and silver Olympic wins. Canadian bobsledders had their best-ever Olympic year in 2010 at Vancouver. Canadian female bobsledders Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse, along with teammates Helen Upperton and Shelley-Ann Brown, won gold and silver medals respectively. The 4-man bobsled team of Lyndon Rush, Chris LeBihan, David Bissett and Lascelles Brown won bronze. Lueders and his teammates placed 5th in both the 2- and 4-man events. BARBARA SCHRODT Luge Luge racing began in 1879.

Today over 30 countries participate in 3 events: men's singles, women's singles and men's doubles. The luger must maintain a prone position while maneuvering hairpin turns over the 1000 m (for men) or 750 m (women) track at speeds up to 150 km/hr or more. Although Douglas Conner set a world record in the Cresta run at St Moritz, Switzerland, in 1954, Canada's first luge team was not formed until 1967, when the first Canadian championships were staged. A luge team entered the 1968 Olympics and Linda Crutchfield won the 1968 North American women's luge championship. Canada finally gained modern facilities in 1976 with a 213 m luge run built in Etobicoke, Ontario. In 1977 Carole Keyes and Bjorn Iverson won the North American women's and men's luge singles championships; Larry Arbuthnot won the men's championship in 1978.

Czech-born Miroslav Zajonc, racing for Canada, won the world luge championship in 1983 and, to date, his is the only international medal Canada has won in luge. Marie-Claude Doyon ranked 6th in the 1986 overall World Cup standings. BARBARA SCHRODT Natural Luge This sport, also known as Naturbahn, has recently gained acceptance in Canada, with some 3000 participants and 8 tracks, including a world-class facility at Canada Olympic Park, Calgary. The tracks vary from 50 to 1000 m and can be constructed anywhere there is a snow-packed or ice-covered hill; there are no turns. The slider lies down, feet-first, and steers by pulling on a strap. Informal competition speeds start at 30 km/h and can reach 80 km/h. The sport takes its name from the natural terrain and winter weather that form the track used for racing. The sport of natural luge made its debut in Canada in 1984, and Canadian sliders attended their first world championships in 1986.

Canada's best result to date has been a 6th-place finish by Sonja Dobson in 1998. Calgary has one of the premier combined bobsleigh/luge runs in the world, in operation since March 1985. BARBARA SCHRODT Skeleton Skeleton (sled) racing, a form of singles tobogganing, is considered the world's first sliding sport. It originated in the Swiss resort town of St. Moritz in the late 1800s. The first competition was held in 1884 but it wasn't until 1887 that riders began competing in the prone position used today. Riders raced down the road, east from St. Moritz to Celerina, where the winner received a bottle of champagne. The route followed the same general path as that of the famed Cresta (toboggan) run, which has been a unique St. Moritz winter-sport attraction for decades. The sport was named in 1892 when a new sled, made mostly of metal and resembling a human skeleton, was introduced.

The Federation Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT) was founded in 1923 and, 3 years later, bobsleigh and skeleton were declared Olympic sports. Men's skeleton made its Olympic debut in 1928 at St. Moritz. Brothers Jennison and John Heaton of the US won the gold and silver medals, respectively. In 1948 at St. Moritz, Nino Bibbia of Italy won gold and John Heaton repeated his silver medal victory. After the 1948 Games, skeleton was removed from the Olympic program. Today, competitions exist for both men and women. The discipline differs from other sliding events in that the competitor lies flat on his or her stomach in the prone position on the sled with head forward during the slide. Once the start is signalled, the athlete has 30 seconds to begin the run (trip the clock). The only means of acceleration is by the athlete's own push at the start of the race. The athlete may leave the sled in order to push or move it, but must pass the finish line on the sled in the prone position.

Olympic skeleton competition consists of 2 runs timed electronically to hundredths of a second. Devices to assist steering or braking are prohibited. Men and women use the same type of sled - 80 to 120 centimetres long and 8 to 20 centimetres high - but weight restrictions are less for women than for men (92 kg and 115 kg respectively). Canadian interest in skeleton racing resurged in 1986 with the opening of the Canada Olympic Park track in Calgary. The Austrians and the Swiss dominated the sport until the mid 1990s when Calgary's Ryan Davenport and his custom-made sleds surged to the top. Davenport is still the sport's only two-time world champion (winning in 1995-96 and 1996-97). He also won the overall World Cup title in 1996. Skeleton returned to Winter Olympic Games competition in 2002 at Salt Lake City. The early 21st century saw the emergence of several young sliders who made their way onto the international podium.

Michelle Kelly won 2 World Cup silver medals, in 1999 and 2000. Women's skeleton made its Olympic debut in 2002. Canada's celebrated racer Mellisa Hollingsworth, the World Championship silver medalist in 2000, took the Olympic bronze in the event's inaugural year, and in 2010 she placed 5th at the Games in Vancouver. Canada's men also continued to dominate internationally. Jeff Pain is Canada's most decorated skeleton racer, having won several World Cup gold medals from 2000 to 2006, and a world championship title in 2005. Racer Duff GIBSON won gold in Olympic skeleton in 2006, though Pain was heavily favoured to win. 39 years old at the time of his win, Gibson currently holds the record for being the oldest individual gold medalist in Winter Olympic history. Leading up to the 2006 Games, he placed 2nd in the 2003-04 World Cup standings, won the 2004 world championship title, and finished 3rd in the 2004-05 World Cup standings.

He retired shortly thereafter. Canada's skeleton racers excelled again at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. Jon MONTGOMERY won Canada's second consecutive gold medal. He finished the four runs, reaching speeds of over 145 km/h, in a combined time of 3.29.73, besting Latvia's Martins Dukurs' time of 3:29.80 and the final time of 3:30.75 by bronze medalist Alexander Tretyakov of Russia. Hollingsworth was fifth in the women's event. Links to other sites Snow Sledding History A Brief History of Snow Sledding in Europe Did you know that the "Sport" of Sledding started in the Alps? In 1883 in Davos, Switzerland, an Australian student named George Robertson won what is reputed to be the world’s first international sled race. He outslid 19 other competitors from England, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States on a four kilometre stretch of road from St. Wolfgang to the town of Klosters.

The term "Davoser" is still used today to describe the Traditional Wooden Sled, Sledge or Toboggan. Our "Tracker" Sled is based on this Classic Design. In the nearby Swiss Valley of Grindelwald, another version of the Traditional Wooden Sled was developed. It had a looping "Ram's Horn" feature in front providing a better grip for riding while seated upright. This type of sled is still referred to as a "Grindelwalder". Our "Bighorn" sled is based on this Classic Bentwood Design. In the winter sports town of St. Moritz in 1884, British Major William Bulpett, with the backing of winter sports pioneer and Kulm hotel owner Caspar Badrutt, constructed "Cresta Run", the first sledding track of its kind in St. Moritz. The track ran three-quarters of a mile from St. Moritz to Celerina and contained 10 turns. In the early days of competitive sledding, the predominant style was "luge" racing (lying on one's back). The "head-first" style was first used in the 1887 Grand National competition .

By 1890 all competitors were riding head-first. This style of sledding became known as "Cresta" racing. In 1892, the original "Davos" style sled was transformed by an Englishman named L. P. Child. Many thought the the newly designed "bare-bones" sled resembled a skeleton. For this reason the sport of individual "head-first" sledding eventually became known as "Skeleton" racing. The Cresta Run is still used today and is one of the few tracks now dedicated primarily to Skeleton style sledding. When the Winter Olympic Games were held at St. Moritz in 1928 and 1948, the Cresta Run was included in the program, marking the only two times "Skeleton" racing was included as an Olympic event before its permanent addition to the winter games in 2002. "Bobsledding", with multiple riders, was also developed in Switzerland in the late 1800's. The larger sleds got their name because early racers thought they could get more speed by bobbing their bodies backward and forward. Originally two Skeleton sleds were joined to make a single bobsled.

This meant that they were equipped with four runners, much like the four wheels of a car. The first organized Bobsledding competition was held on the Cresta Run on January 5, 1898, with five-passenger sleds. (Two of the passengers had to be women.) Speeds on the mountainside became dangerously fast, so an artificial bobsled run with a gentler slope was built at St. Moritz in 1902. The popularity of the sport led to the introduction of Bobsled racing to the Olympic Games in France in 1924. The Luge competition was introduced to the Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck in 1964. . Travel poster created in 1918 by Emil Cardinaux for the Swiss Alpine winter sports resort village of Davos. As Switzerland became a popular travel destination at the turn of the century, the need for promotion arose. Emil Cardinaux created the first "modern" poster, his 1908 Matterhorn. It stunned the public with its rich coloring and grand simplicity. For two decades, the Swiss continued to create beautiful illustrated posters for their ski resorts, thermal spas, and alpine retreats.

Davos , 1918 Winter Olympic Sports: Sledding | WatchMojo.com Winter Olympic Sports: Sledding in: hosted by Rebecca Brayton Evolved from sleds used for travel, sledding sports began in the 1870s in Switzerland. Bobsled, luge and skeleton were developed shortly after, and have since gained popularity through such international competitions as the Olympic Games. The beginning of a sled race is crucial for various reasons. Sled racers must gain momentum at the start to get to a competitive racing speed. Also, mistakes near the beginning of a run are especially taxing, because they can potentially decrease the speed of the sled for the remainder of the track. In this video, WatchMojo.com prepares you for the Olympics by showing you more about the three sledding sports: Bobsled, Luge and Skeleton. Bobsledding in Canada Winter Activities Bobsledding in Canada You've been tobogganing as a kid, right? Now imagine speeding down a track at up to 150 km/hr. That's what Canadian bobsledding can offer the "daredevil" in you.

Bobsledding in Canada is starting to become a recreational sport among the more extreme winter sports enthusiasts. Canadian athletes are consistently winning medals in world championships for bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton racing. History of Canadian Bobsledding The first recorded racing of toboggans or sleds was in St. Moritz, Switzerland in the mid 19th century; however, tobogganing in Canada was developed by eastern native tribes who would take a break from their usual routines and race toboggans down area hills. They invented the toboggan to carry supplies while hunting in Canada and to move settlements in search of resources. As the novelty of the sport caught on with newly arrived Europeans they formed the Montreal Tobogganing Club in 1881. This was the beginning of bobsledding in Canada. A popular location for Canadian bobsledding at this time was the Montmorency Ice Cone in Quebec City. Tobogganing soon became one of the most popular winter activities in Canada during the mid 1800's. Organized Canadian bobsledding was established in 1881. The first recorded luge race occurred in 1879.

Skeleton racing originated in St. Moritz, Switzerland in the late 1800's and got its name in 1892 due to the metal structure of the sled which resembled a human skeleton. The Canadian Amateur Bobsleigh and Luge Association formed in 1957. The first Canadian bobsledding team to compete internationally was brothers Victor and John Emery in 1959. They had formed the Laurentian Bobsledding Association a couple of years earlier. In 1962, Lamont Gordon led a 4-man team to win the Commonwealth Bobsled Championship. Douglas Anakin and Peter Kirby challenged the world's best at the 1964 Olympic Games and emerged with a gold medal in world record time! At the 1965 world championship, Vic Emery led the Canadian bobsledding team to a world title. Canada formed its first luge team at the 1967 Canadian championship. Linda Crutchfield won the 1968 North American women's luge championship.

In 1977, Carole Keyes won the North American women's championship while Bjorn Iverson of Canada won the men’s event. Larry Arbuthnot won the men's luge championship in 1978. Canadian sledders Greg Haydenluck and Chris Lori returned Canada to the medal podium in the 1980's with championships in World Cup races in both the 2-man and 4-man bobsled. Miroslav Zajonc won the World Luge Championship in 1983. The bobsled and luge track at Calgary Olympic Park became the first professional runs for bobsledding in Canada. They were built in 1985 in preparation for the 1988 Olympic Games. At the 1998 Nagano Olympic Games, Pierre Leuders and David MacEachern won the gold in the 2-man bobsled. In the mid-1990's, Ryan Davenport, with his custom-made sled, became the only two-time world champion in skeleton racing. Michelle Kelly won silver medals at the 1999 and 2000 World Cups for skeleton racing.

Jeff Pain won a World Cup silver medal at the 1999 championship and followed that up with gold medals in 2000 and 2001. The Whistler Sliding Centre has been built for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. Canadian bobsledding teams are practicing on this track to prepare for their gold medal run…and it seems to be working as Canadian bobsledding teams have captured medals at the February 2009 World Cup at the Whistler Sliding Centre: Jon Montgomery won the gold in men's skeleton racing while Jeff Pain stood beside him on the podium with a 3rd place finish. Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse captured silver in the 2-person bobsled Pierre Leuders and David Bisset placed 3rd in the 2-man event Bring on the 2010 Winter Olympic Games! Other Winter Olympic sports in Canada include: Snowboarding in Canada Types of Bobsledding and Crews Three types of toboggans are used for bobsledding in Canada; bobsleigh or bobsled, the luge and the skeleton sled.

The bobsled has 2 axles supporting two runners and carries 2 to 4 riders. The luge is a single sled carrying 1 or 2 racers lying backwards. The skeleton carries 1 rider lying face down and traveling head first. Modern bobsleighs are made of a light metal structure over steel runners with an aerodynamic composite body. A 4-man bobsled can be a maximum of 3.8 m long while 2-man sleighs can be 2.7 m. Maximum weights for sled and crew are as follows: 4-person bobsled – 630 kg 2-man bobsled – 390 kg 2-woman bobsled – 340 kg Weights are sometimes added to achieve the maximum as it makes for a faster run. The trade-off is that is more difficult to push from a standing start. A race begins when the bobsledders begin pushing the sleigh for up to 50 m from a standing start and jump aboard. The bobsled's performance is based on the skill of the driver to make "tight" turns, ice conditions, weight, runner performance, and aerodynamics.

In Olympic Winter Games and World Cup races, medals are awarded to the fastest time over four runs or "heats". The driver must steer through 16 curves over a 1,500m course reaching speeds up to 150 km/hr. The crew must overcome up to 5 G's of gravitational pull. Luge racing has three events; men's singles, women's singles, and men's doubles. The racer lies in a prone position and steers the luge through hairpin turns over a 750m or 1000m track. Speeds of up to 135 km/hr can be reached. Skeleton racers lie face down on the sled in the prone position with their head positioned at the front. In Olympic skeleton races there are two runs for each competitor and each are timed to 1/100th of a second. There are no steering or braking devices allowed. The sleds are 80-120 cm long and 8 to 20 cm high with weight restrictions at 92 kg for women and 115 kg for men.

Canadian Bobsledding Associations Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton is responsible for amateur bobsledding in Canada. Canadian Luge Association is responsible for amateur luge racing in Canada. They have teamed up the folks at Canada Olympic Park to offer an introduction to luge racing, instruction from luge racers, and a run down a full-fledged Olympic track. Calgary Bobsled Club rents 2 and 4-man bobsleighs for the day at the Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. Foothills Bobsleigh Club is a non-profit organization that promotes Canadian bobsledding as a recreation activity. Alberta Bobsleigh Association offers bobsleigh training from October to February at Calgary's Canada Olympic Park as well as a summer training program. Sochi 2014: Bobsled, Luge & Skeleton | PRETTY TOUGH™ Sochi 2014: Bobsled, Luge & Skeleton Published by admin at team usa (Ed. Note: As we prep for the Olympic Games in Sochi, look for Pretty Tough Primers on all the winter events and competitions). Imagine laying on a sled the size of a bath mat wearing head to toe spandex.

You grip the metal handles on either side and succumb to the forces of physics as you fly down a long, curvy track of ice at speeds of more than 60 mph. If you’re on your back, feet first, that’s the luge. Head first, face down, hands behind your back, you’re sliding skeleton style. There are a number of sports that spectators only get to enjoy every four years on the Olympics stage. Luge, skeleton and bobsled are among them. The three are exciting and fast races where basically a sled speeds down an icy tube to the finish. In order to attract athletes for these sports some coaches travel to seek out younger kids that may have an interest or knack for it. This happened in Colorado where the USA luge team put on a exhibition and got some interested children involved. A couple of the athletes even competed in the 2008 Olympic Games as a result of this exhibition. Although the sled has been around for centuries as a mode of transportation, the sport of bobsled racing didn’t begin until the late 19th century when the Swiss attached a steering mechanism to a toboggan. In 1897, bobsled started in Albany, N.Y.

and was then introduced to Switzerland. This spurred 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-person race took place at the first ever Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France. A two-person event was added at the 1932 Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y., a format that has remained to the present. The start of the race is of critical importance and because of this, strong, fast athletes in other sports are drawn to bobsledding. Track and field competitors, handballers, gymnasts and others who can deliver a vigorous push at the start are much sought after.

Today, the world’s top teams train year-round and compete mostly on artificial ice tracks in sleek high-tech sleds made of fiberglass and steel. In the early 1990s, women bobsledding events debuted in Europe and North America. For the Sochi Games, the U.S. will be entering the following three sleds in the 2014 Olympic women’s bobsled competition: Vancouver sled team included: USA I: Shauna Rohbock (Park City, Utah) and Michelle Rzepka (Novi, Mich.) USA II: Erin Pac (Farmington, Conn.) and Elana Meyers (Douglasville, Ga.) USA III: Bree Schaaf (Bremerton, Wash.) and Emily Azevedo (Chico, Calif.) As mentioned above, a skeleton slider races down the icy bobsled tracks of the world head first, face down and hands back, approaching speeds of 80 mph. Skeleton was organized in the late 1800’s in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and appeared in the 1928 and 1948 Winter Olympics.

The sport faded from popularity until the late 1970s when a resurgence started in Europe to bring the sport back to the public eye. Since then, over 20 nations have joined the ranks of skeleton sliding nations, with World Cup and World Championships held annually. The Skeleton sled itself, made of steel and fiberglass, measures three feet in length and 16 inches wide, weighing from 70-115 pounds depending on the sliders body weight. The slider wears a helmet with a chin guard. A skintight rubber suit is used to increase aerodynamics, and sprinter’s spikes are worn for the quick start. The Women’s skeleton competition will take place Feb. 18 & 19 featuring members of Team USA Noelle Pikus-Pace and Katie Uhlaender. The USA Women’s Luge Team consists of Summer Britcher, Erin Hamlin andKate Hansen. At 27 years old, Hamlin is the reigning world champion, and is racing to end German dominance on the fastest track in the world. Watch the Women’s Luge Final Feb.

16 Related Posts: Skeleton Equipment and History - Olympic Sport History Sports History Skeleton racing involves plummeting head-first down a steep and treacherous ice track on a tiny sled. It is considered the world's first sliding sport. Thrill-seeking tourists Sleighing is one of the oldest winter sports. Descriptions of the sport can be found in 16th-century literature, but as a racing sport it can be traced to the mid-19th century, when British tourists started sliding down snowbound roads in the Alps. British and American holidaymakers built the first toboggan run in Davos in 1882. The Cresta run Skeleton sled racing owes it entire early history to St Moritz and the famed Cresta Run. The sport developed in the Swiss resort town as a pursuit for the rich. E. F. Benson put it best when he wrote in 1913, “There is one Mecca, there is one St Peter's, and there is one Cresta.” Olympic history Men’s skeleton made two early appearances on the Olympic programme at its “ancestral” home of St. Moritz in 1928 and 1948.

It was then dropped until it reappeared as a men’s and women’s event at Salt Lake City in 2002. Bobsleigh Equipment and History - Olympic Sport History Sports History Bobsleigh is a winter sport invented by the Swiss in the late 1860s in which teams make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled. 19th century beginnings The sport of bobsleigh didn't begin until the late 19th century when the Swiss attached two skeleton sleds together and added a steering mechanism to make a toboggan. A chassis was added to give protection to wealthy tourists and the world's first bobsleigh club was founded in St Moritz, Switzerland in 1897. Super heavy By the 1950s, the critical importance of the start had been recognized and athletes with explosive strength from other sports were drawn to bobsledding. In 1952, a critical rule change limiting the total weight of crew and sled ended the era of the super heavyweight bobsledder and rebalanced the sport as an athletic contest.

Back and forth In its original form, the first races used skeleton sleds made of wood. However, they were soon replaced by steel sleds that came to be known as bobsleighs because of the way crews bobbed back and forth to increase their speed at the start. Today, the world's top teams train year-round and compete mostly on artificial ice tracks in sleek high-tech sleds made of fibreglass and steel. Olympic history In 1924, a four-man race took place at the first ever Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix. A two-man event was added at the 1932 Lake Placid Games in a format that has remained to the present. The first women's bobsleigh event - the two-woman bobsled - was held in 2002. Olympic Games | Britannica.com Olympic Games Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: Mount Olympus Meets the Middle Kingdom Olympic Games, athletic festival that originated in ancient Greece and was revived in the late 19th century. Before the 1970s the Games were officially limited to competitors with amateur status, but in the 1980s many events were opened to professional athletes.

Currently the Games are open to all, even the top professional athletes in basketball and football (soccer). The ancient Olympic Games included several of the sports that are now part of the Summer Games program, which at times has included events in as many as 32 different sports . In 1924 the Winter Games were sanctioned for winter sports. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition . Opening ceremonies, Moscow Olympics, 1980. AFP/Getty Images The ancient Olympic Games Origins Just how far back in history organized athletic contests were held remains a matter of debate, but it is reasonably certain that they occurred in Greece almost 3,000 years ago. However ancient in origin, by the end of the 6th century bce at least four Greek sporting festivals, sometimes called “classical games,” had achieved major importance: the Olympic Games, held at Olympia ; the Pythian Games at Delphi ; the Nemean Games at Nemea; and the Isthmian Games , held near Corinth . Later, similar festivals were held in nearly 150 cities as far afield as Rome , Naples , Odessus, Antioch , and Alexandria .

Overview of the first Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece. Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz Of all the games held throughout Greece, the Olympic Games were the most famous. Held every four years between August 6 and September 19, they occupied such an important place in Greek history that in late antiquity historians measured time by the interval between them—an Olympiad. The Olympic Games, like almost all Greek games, were an intrinsic part of a religious festival. They were held in honour of Zeus at Olympia by the city-state of Elis in the northwestern Peloponnese . The first Olympic champion listed in the records was Coroebus of Elis, a cook, who won the sprint race in 776 bce. Notions that the Olympics began much earlier than 776 bce are founded on myth , not historical evidence. According to one legend , for example, the Games were founded by Heracles , son of Zeus and Alcmene. Competition and status Asian Games At the meeting in 776 bce there was apparently only one event, a footrace that covered one length of the track at Olympia, but other events were added over the ensuing decades.

The race, known as the stade , was about 192 metres (210 yards) long. The word stade also came to refer to the track on which the race was held and is the origin of the modern English word stadium. In 724 bce a two-length race, the diaulos, roughly similar to the 400-metre race, was included, and four years later the dolichos, a long-distance race possibly comparable to the modern 1,500- or 5,000-metre events, was added. Wrestling and the pentathlon were introduced in 708 bce. The latter was an all-around competition consisting of five events—the long jump, the javelin throw, the discus throw, a footrace, and wrestling. Boxing was introduced in 688 bce and chariot racing eight years later. In 648 bce the pancratium (from Greek pankration), a kind of no-holds-barred combat, was included. This brutal contest combined wrestling, boxing, and street fighting.

Kicking and hitting a downed opponent were allowed; only biting and gouging (thrusting a finger or thumb into an opponent’s eye) were forbidden. Between 632 and 616 bce events for boys were introduced. And from time to time further events were added, including a footrace in which athletes ran in partial armour and contests for heralds and for trumpeters. The program, however, was not nearly so varied as that of the modern Olympics. There were neither team games nor ball games, and the athletics (track and field) events were limited to the four running events and the pentathlon mentioned above. Chariot races and horse racing, which became part of the ancient Games, were held in the hippodrome south of the stadium. Men wrestling, detail of an ancient Greek cup, by Epictetus, c. 520 bc; in the Agora Museum, … © Gianni Dagli Orti/Corbis Big Radio Burst from Tiny Galaxy In the early centuries of Olympic competition, all the contests took place on one day; later the Games were spread over four days, with a fifth devoted to the closing-ceremony presentation of prizes and a banquet for the champions.

In most events the athletes participated in the nude. Through the centuries scholars have sought to explain this practice. Theories have ranged from the eccentric (to be nude in public without an erection demonstrated self-control) to the usual anthropological, religious, and social explanations, including the following: (1) nudity bespeaks a rite of passage, (2) nudity was a holdover from the days of hunting and gathering , (3) nudity had, for the Greeks, a magical power to ward off harm, and (4) public nudity was a kind of costume of the upper class. Historians grasp at dubious theories because, in Judeo-Christian society, to compete nude in public seems odd, if not scandalous. Yet ancient Greeks found nothing shameful about nudity, especially male nudity. Therefore, the many modern explanations of Greek athletic nudity are in the main unnecessary. The Olympic Games The Olympic Games were technically restricted to freeborn Greeks. Many Greek competitors came from the Greek colonies on the Italian peninsula and in Asia Minor and Africa . Most of the participants were professionals who trained full-time for the events.

These athletes earned substantial prizes for winning at many other preliminary festivals, and, although the only prize at Olympia was a wreath or garland, an Olympic champion also received widespread adulation and often lavish benefits from his home city. Women and the Olympic Games Although there were no women’s events in the ancient Olympics, several women appear in the official lists of Olympic victors as the owners of the stables of some victorious chariot entries. In Sparta, girls and young women did practice and compete locally. But, apart from Sparta, contests for young Greek women were very rare and probably limited to an annual local footrace. At Olympia, however, the Herean festival, held every four years in honour of the goddess Hera , included a race for young women, who were divided into three age groups. Yet the Herean race was not part of the Olympics (they took place at another time of the year) and probably was not instituted before the advent of the Roman Empire. Then for a brief period girls competed at a few other important athletic venues . Connect with Britannica Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest The 2nd-century-ce traveler Pausanias wrote that women were banned from Olympia during the actual Games under penalty of death.

Yet he also remarked that the law and penalty had never been invoked . His account later incongruously stated that unmarried women were allowed as Olympic spectators. Many historians believe that a later scribe simply made an error copying this passage of Pausanias’s text here. Nonetheless, the notion that all or only married women were banned from the Games endured in popular writing on the topic, though the evidence regarding women as spectators remains unclear. Demise of the Olympics Greece lost its independence to Rome in the middle of the 2nd century bce, and support for the competitions at Olympia and elsewhere fell off considerably during the next century. The Romans looked on athletics with contempt—to strip naked and compete in public was degrading in their eyes. The Romans realized the political value of the Greek festivals, however, and Emperor Augustus staged games for Greek athletes in a temporary wooden stadium erected near the Circus Maximus in Rome and instituted major new athletic festivals in Italy and in Greece. Emperor Nero was also a keen patron of the festivals in Greece, but he disgraced himself and the Olympic Games when he entered a chariot race , fell off his vehicle, and then declared himself the winner anyway. Romans neither trained for nor participated in Greek athletics.

Roman gladiator shows and team chariot racing were not related to the Olympic Games or to Greek athletics. The main difference between the Greek and Roman attitudes is reflected in the words each culture used to describe its festivals: for the Greeks they were contests (agōnes), while for the Romans they were games (ludi). The Greeks originally organized their festivals for the competitors, the Romans for the public. One was primarily competition, the other entertainment. The Olympic Games were finally abolished about 400 ce by the Roman emperor Theodosius I or his son because of the festival’s pagan associations. The modern Olympic movement Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies Revival of the Olympics The ideas and work of several people led to the creation of the modern Olympics. The best-known architect of the modern Games was Pierre, baron de Coubertin , born in Paris on New Year’s Day, 1863. Family tradition pointed to an army career or possibly politics, but at age 24 Coubertin decided that his future lay in education, especially physical education. In 1890 he traveled to England to meet Dr.

William Penny Brookes , who had written some articles on education that attracted the Frenchman’s attention. Brookes also had tried for decades to revive the ancient Olympic Games, getting the idea from a series of modern Greek Olympiads held in Athens starting in 1859. The Greek Olympics were founded by Evangelis Zappas, who, in turn, got the idea from Panagiotis Soutsos , a Greek poet who was the first to call for a modern revival and began to promote the idea in 1833. Brookes’s first British Olympiad, held in London in 1866, was successful, with many spectators and good athletes in attendance. But his subsequent attempts met with less success and were beset by public apathy and opposition from rival sporting groups. Rather than give up, in the 1880s Brookes began to argue for the founding of international Olympics in Athens. When Coubertin sought to confer with Brookes about physical education, Brookes talked more about Olympic revivals and showed him documents relating to both the Greek and the British Olympiads. He also showed Coubertin newspaper articles reporting his own proposal for international Olympic Games.

On November 25, 1892, at a meeting of the Union des Sports Athlétiques in Paris, with no mention of Brookes or these previous modern Olympiads, Coubertin himself advocated the idea of reviving the Olympic Games, and he propounded his desire for a new era in international sport when he said: Let us export our oarsmen, our runners, our fencers into other lands. That is the true Free Trade of the future; and the day it is introduced into Europe the cause of Peace will have received a new and strong ally. Trending Topics Industrial Revolution He then asked his audience to help him in “the splendid and beneficent task of reviving the Olympic Games.” The speech did not produce any appreciable activity, but Coubertin reiterated his proposal for an Olympic revival in Paris in June 1894 at a conference on international sport attended by 79 delegates representing 49 organizations from 9 countries. Coubertin himself wrote that, except for his coworkers Dimítrios Vikélas of Greece, who was to be the first president of the International Olympic Committee, and Professor William M.

Sloane of the United States, from the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University), no one had any real interest in the revival of the Games. Nevertheless, and to quote Coubertin again, “a unanimous vote in favour of revival was rendered at the end of the Congress chiefly to please me.” It was at first agreed that the Games should be held in Paris in 1900. Six years seemed a long time to wait, however, and it was decided (how and by whom remains obscure) to change the venue to Athens and the date to April 1896. A great deal of indifference, if not opposition, had to be overcome, including a refusal by the Greek prime minister to stage the Games at all. But when a new prime minister took office, Coubertin and Vikélas were able to carry their point, and the Games were opened by the king of Greece in the first week of April 1896, on Greek Independence Day. Organization The International Olympic Committee At the Congress of Paris in 1894, the control and development of the modern Olympic Games were entrusted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC; Comité International Olympique).

During World War I Coubertin moved its headquarters to Lausanne , Switzerland, where they have remained. The IOC is responsible for maintaining the regular celebration of the Olympic Games, seeing that the Games are carried out in the spirit that inspired their revival, and promoting the development of sports throughout the world. The original committee in 1894 consisted of 14 members and Coubertin. IOC members are regarded as ambassadors from the committee to their national sports organizations. They are in no sense delegates to the committee and may not accept, from the government of their country or from any organization or individual, any instructions that in any way affect their independence. The IOC is a permanent organization that elects its own members. Reforms in 1999 set the maximum membership at 115, of whom 70 are individuals, 15 current Olympic athletes, 15 national Olympic committee presidents, and 15 international sports federation presidents. The members are elected to renewable eight-year terms, but they must retire at age 70. Term limits were also applied to future presidents.

The IOC elects its president for a period of eight years, at the end of which the president is eligible for reelection for further periods of four years each. The executive board of 15 members holds periodic meetings with the international federations and national Olympic committees. The IOC as a whole meets annually, and a meeting can be convened at any time that one-third of the members so request. International Olympic Committee presidents *The Winter Games were not held until 1924. **Games were not held during World War I and World War II. ***From 1992 the Summer and Winter Games were held on a staggered two-year schedule. Corruption In December 1998 the sporting world was shocked by allegations of widespread corruption within the IOC . It was charged that IOC members had accepted bribes —in the form of cash, gifts, entertainment, business favours, travel expenses, medical expenses, and even college tuition for members’ children—from members of the committee that had successfully advanced the bid of Salt Lake City , Utah , as the site for the 2002 Winter Games. Accusations of impropriety were also alleged in the conduct of several previous bid committees.

The IOC responded by expelling six committee members; several others resigned. In December 1999 an IOC commission announced a 50-point reform package covering the selection and conduct of the IOC members, the bid process, the transparency of financial dealings, the size and conduct of the Games, and drug regulation. The reform package also contained a number of provisions regulating the site-selection process and clarifying the obligations of the IOC, the bid cities, and the national Olympic committees. An independent IOC Ethics Commission also was established. Political pressures Because the Olympics take place on an international stage, it is not surprising that they have been plagued by the nationalism , manipulation, and propaganda associated with world politics. Attempts to politicize the Olympics were evident as early as the first modern Games at Athens in 1896, when the British compelled an Australian athlete to declare himself British. Other prominent examples of the politicization of the Games include the Nazi propaganda that pervaded the Berlin Games of 1936; the Soviet-Hungarian friction at the 1956 Games in Melbourne, Australia, which followed shortly after the U.S.S.R.

had brutally suppressed a revolution in Hungary that year; the forbidden, unofficial, but prominent contests for “points” (medals counts) between the United States and the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War; the controversy between China and Taiwan leading up to the 1976 Montreal Games; the manifold disputes resulting from South Africa ’s apartheid policy from 1968 to 1988; the U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games (in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979), followed by the retaliatory boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Games by the Soviet bloc; and, worst of all, the murder of Israeli athletes by terrorists at the 1972 Games in Munich , West Germany. Even national politics has affected the Games, most notably in 1968 in Mexico City, where, shortly before the Games opened, Mexican troops fired upon Mexican students (killing hundreds) who were protesting government expenditures on the Olympics while the country had pressing social problems. Political tension within the United States also boiled to the top at Mexico City when African American athletes either boycotted the Games or staged demonstrations to protest continuing racism at home.

In the latter half of the 20th century, the IOC sought to more actively promote peace through sports. The IOC and relevant Olympic organizing committees worked with political leaders to allow the participation of former Yugoslav republics at the 1992 Games in Barcelona , Spain , as well as the participation of East Timorese and Palestinian athletes at the 2000 Games in Sydney , Australia . In 2000 the IOC revived and modernized the ancient Olympic truce, making it the focal point of its peace initiatives . (See Sidebar: The Olympic Truce .) Commercialization Commercialism has never been wholly absent from the Games, but two large industries have eclipsed all others—namely, television and makers of sports apparel, especially shoes. The IOC, organizing committees of the Olympic Games (OCOGs), and to some degree the international sport federations depend heavily on television revenues, and many of the best athletes depend on money from apparel endorsements. Vigorous bidding for the television rights began in earnest before the Rome Games in 1960; what have been called the “sneaker wars” started an Olympiad later in Tokyo.

The Los Angeles Games of 1984, however, ushered in a new Olympic era. In view of Montreal’s huge financial losses from the 1976 Olympics, Peter Ueberroth , head of the Los Angeles OCOG, sold exclusive “official sponsor” rights to the highest bidder in a variety of corporate categories. Now almost everything is commercialized with “official” items ranging from credit cards to beer. And while American decathlete Bill Toomey lost his Olympic eligibility in 1964 for endorsing a nutritional supplement, now athletes openly endorse allergy medicines and blue jeans. National Olympic committees, international federations, and organizing committees Each country that desires to participate in the Olympic Games must have a national Olympic committee accepted by the IOC. By the early 21st century, there were more than 200 such committees. A national Olympic committee (NOC) must be composed of at least five national sporting federations, each affiliated with an appropriate international federation. The ostensible purpose of these NOCs is the development and promotion of the Olympic movement. NOCs arrange to equip, transport, and house their country’s representatives at the Olympic Games.

According to the rules of the NOCs, they must be not-for-profit organizations, must not associate themselves with affairs of a political or commercial nature, and must be completely independent and autonomous as well as in a position to resist all political, religious, or commercial pressure. For each Olympic sport there must be an international federation (IF), to which a requisite number of applicable national governing bodies must belong. The IFs promote and regulate their sport on an international level. Since 1986 they have been responsible for determining all questions of Olympic eligibility and competition in their sport. The International Federation of Rowing Associations was founded in 1892, even before the IOC. In 1912 Sigfrid Edström, later president of the IOC, founded the IF for athletics (track and field), the earliest of Olympic sports and perhaps the Games’ special focus. Because such sports as football (soccer) and basketball attract great numbers of participants and spectators in all parts of the world, their respective IFs possess great power and sometimes exercise it. When the IOC awards the Olympic Games to a city, an organizing committee for the Olympic Games (OCOG) replaces the successful bid committee, often including many of that committee’s members.

Although the IOC retains ultimate authority over all aspects of an Olympiad, the local OCOG has full responsibility for the festival, including finance, facilities, staffing, and accommodations. In Paris in 1924, a number of cabins were built near the stadium to house visiting athletes; the complex was called “ Olympic Village .” But the first Olympic Village with kitchens, dining rooms, and other amenities was introduced at Los Angeles in 1932. Now each organizing committee provides such a village so that competitors and team officials can be housed together and fed at a reasonable price. Menus for each team are prepared in accord with its own national cuisine. Today, with so many athletes and venues, OCOGs may need to provide more than one village. The villages are located as close as possible to the main stadium and other venues and have separate accommodations for men and women. Only competitors and officials may live in the village, and the number of team officials is limited. Programs and participation The Olympic Games celebrate an Olympiad, or period of four years.

The first Olympiad of modern times was celebrated in 1896, and subsequent Olympiads are numbered consecutively, even when no Games take place (as was the case in 1916, 1940, and 1944). Olympic Winter Games have been held separately from the Games of the Olympiad (Summer Games) since 1924 and were initially held in the same year. In 1986 the IOC voted to alternate the Winter and Summer Games every two years, beginning in 1994. The Winter Games were held in 1992 and again in 1994 and thereafter every four years; the Summer Games maintained their original four-year cycle. The maximum number of entries permitted for individual events is three per country. The number is fixed (but can be varied) by the IOC in consultation with the international federation concerned. In most team events only one team per country is allowed. In general, an NOC may enter only a citizen of the country concerned. There is no age limit for competitors unless one has been established by a sport’s international federation. No discrimination is allowed on grounds of “race,” religion, or political affiliation.

The Games are contests between individuals and not between countries. The Summer Olympic program includes the following sports: aquatics (including swimming, synchronized swimming, diving, and water polo), archery, athletics (track and field), badminton, basketball, boxing, canoeing and kayaking, cycling, equestrian sports, fencing, field hockey , football (soccer), golf, gymnastics (including artistic, rhythmic, and trampoline), team handball , judo, modern pentathlon, rowing, rugby , sailing (formerly yachting), shooting, table tennis, tae kwon do, tennis, triathlon, volleyball (indoor and beach), weightlifting, and wrestling. Women participate in all these sports, whereas men do not compete in synchronized swimming or rhythmic gymnastics. The Winter Olympic program includes sports played on snow or ice: biathlon, bobsledding, curling , ice hockey , ice skating (figure skating and speed skating), luge, skeleton (headfirst) sledding, skiing, ski jumping, and snowboarding. Athletes of either gender may compete in all these sports.

An Olympic program must include national exhibitions and demonstrations of fine arts (architecture, literature, music, painting, sculpture, photography, and sports philately). The particular events included in the different sports are a matter for agreement between the IOC and the international federations. In 2005 the IOC reviewed the summer sports program, and members voted to drop baseball and softball from the 2012 Games. While sports such as rugby and karate were considered, none won the 75 percent favourable vote needed for inclusion. In 2009 the IOC voted to add women’s boxing to the 2012 program, as well as golf and rugby sevens to the 2016 program. Baseball and softball were added back to the program for the 2020 Games, and karate, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing were also added. To be allowed to compete, an athlete must meet the eligibility requirements as defined by the international body of the particular sport and also by the rules of the IOC. Amateurism versus professionalism In the final decades of the 20th century there was a shift in policy away from the IOC’s traditionally strict definition of amateur status.

In 1971 the IOC decided to eliminate the term amateur from the Olympic Charter. Subsequently the eligibility rules were amended to permit “broken-time” payments to compensate athletes for time spent away from work during training and competition. The IOC also legitimized the sponsorship of athletes by NOCs, sports organizations, and private businesses. In 1984 some of the world’s best athletes were still banned from the Games because they competed for money , but in 1986 the IOC adopted rules that permit the international federation governing each Olympic sport to decide whether to permit professional athletes in Olympic competition. Professionals in ice hockey, tennis, soccer, and equestrian sports were permitted to compete in the 1988 Olympics, although their eligibility was subject to some restrictions. By the 21st century the presence of professional athletes at the Olympic Games was common. Doping and drug testing At the 1960 Rome Olympics, a Danish cyclist collapsed and died after his coach had given him amphetamines. Formal drug tests seemed necessary and were instituted at the 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble , France . There only one athlete was disqualified for taking a banned substance—beer.

But in the 1970s and ′80s athletes tested positive for a variety of performance-enhancing drugs, and since the ′70s doping has remained the most difficult challenge facing the Olympic movement. As the fame and potential monetary gains for Olympic champions grew in the latter half of the 20th century, so too did the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Tests for anabolic steroids and other substances improved, but so did doping practices, with the design of new substances often a year or two ahead of the new tests. When 100-metre-sprint champion Ben Johnson of Canada tested positive for the drug stanozolol at the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul , South Korea, the world was shocked, and the Games themselves were tainted. To more effectively police doping practices, the IOC formed the World Anti-Doping Agency in 1999. There is now a long list of banned substances and a thorough testing process. Blood and urine samples are collected from athletes before and after competition and sent to a lab for testing. Positive tests for banned substances lead to disqualification, and athletes may be banned from competition for periods ranging from a year to life.

Yet, despite the harsh penalties and threat of public humiliation, athletes continue to test positive for banned substances. Ritual and symbolism skeleton sledding | sport | Britannica.com Skeleton sledding Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Skeleton sledding, also called Cresta sledding, winter sport in which the skeleton sled, or Cresta, consisting of steel runners fastened to a platform chassis, is ridden in a headfirst, prone position. Skeleton sledding competitions are typically held on the same courses used for bobsled contests. It is a dangerous and thrilling sport where riders, with their faces just inches above the icy course, attain speeds over 129 km (80 miles) per hour. The sport of skeleton sledding developed on the famed Cresta Run, built in 1884 at Saint Moritz , Switzerland . The Cresta Run, which follows a 1,213-metre (1,327-yard) course from Saint Moritz to the town of Celerina, has hosted the annual Grand National championships since 1885. The 1887 Grand National saw the first competitors to careen down the run headfirst.

A new sled made entirely of steel was introduced in 1892. The sled was popular with Cresta Run patrons, and some claim that its “bony” appearance gave the sled and the sport the name “skeleton.” Skeleton sledding was included twice in the Olympic Winter Games, in 1928 and 1948 , each time at Saint Moritz, but, with the sport limited to competition only at the Cresta Run, it was surpassed in popularity by bobsled and luge and fell into obscurity. However, by the early 1970s adjustments to the skeleton sled and artificial bob runs were made and international skeleton competition was rejuvenated. By 1987 world championships and world cup competitions had been established, and the sport was recognized by the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT). Skeleton sledding returned to the Winter Olympics program in 2002 with events for both men and women. The sled used in FIBT competition consists of a riding board and a steel frame to which two steel runners are attached.

Two handles on the sled aid the rider in pushing the sled at the start, and bumpers along the sides provide protection from the hard jolts of the track. The sled has no steering mechanism or brakes and is controlled by the rider’s dragging a foot on the ice and subtly shifting his weight. The rider wears a helmet with chin guard, gloves, an aerodynamic bodysuit, and spiked shoes. In international competition each athlete makes two runs; the final standings are based on the aggregate time. Skeleton sled.

Question: Luge and skeleton racing were developed in the late 19th century in which country?
Answer: Switzerland