Speed, ice, and danger are the key qualities of bobsledding, perhaps one of the most exciting sports for participants and spectators both. Bobsledding involves a
two- or four-person team riding a specially designed
sled down an steep, icy course. The “bob” that reaches
the end in the shortest time wins. Bobsledding has
been an Olympic sport since 1924 and is growing in
popularity, although limited by the number of runs and
the high cost of participation.
History
As an organized and identifiable sport, bobsledding
goes back more than 100 years. The sled and the luge
were common in the mountainous regions of Europe
and North America throughout the 19th century. Developing from local transport forms, both had increasingly been used for recreation by visitors to mountain
areas as they sought new thrills and new ways of traveling down mountainsides at great speed. This group of
people consisted primarily of those wealthy enough to
spend part of the winter in places such as St. Moritz. At
the forefront of this search for new thrills were the
British, and in 1875 a group of tourists were responsible for the invention of the Skeleton. The Skeleton took
the basic form of a sled with the addition of a sliding
seat that would enable the rider to travel down a slope
while lying on his or her stomach. The Skeleton could
be controlled by shifting the rider’s weight on the seat.
The Skeleton took the old sled and luge to new speeds
while opening minds to the possibility of new and future forms of downhill travel that would be used primarily for sport.
The first identifiable bobsled was designed in 1886
by Wilson Smith, an Englishman. This idea was advanced by Christian Mathias, a St. Moritz, Switzerland,
blacksmith. It consisted of a plank crossed by six or so
pieces of wood, then laid over two sledges. The front
sled was mounted on a pivot and steered by two strings.
At the back, a primitive harrow acted as a brake.
Those brave enough to board these early contraptions had to restrict their runs to the high frozen banks
of roads in the Alpine regions.As the bobsled became a
more frequent sight, and specific roads were used on a
more regular basis, organized clubs developed, the first
founded in 1896 by Lord Francis Helmsley of Britain at
St. Moritz, the spiritual home of the bobsled.
Roads were not ideal bobsled runs, and the clubs
began to consider building dedicated runs. The first
was built by the St. Moritz club in 1903. This first run
was 1,600 meters (1,750 yards) long and linked le Parc
Badrutt with Celerina. The first national championships were held in Germany at Oberhof in 1907, with
the winning team receiving a trophy donated by Crown
Prince William of Prussia. Subsequently, bobsled clubs
emerged in Germany, Romania, and France, as well as
Switzerland.
Increasing spread of bobsled as a sport led to calls
for standardization. During the early 1920s there were
international moves to organize a winter sports week
recognized by the International Olympic Committee as
the Winter Olympics. These first Winter Olympics were
held at Chamonix in France in 1924 and played host to
the first four-man bobsled event. The International
Olympic Committee was the catalyst for the formation
of the IBTF, which in turn introduced standardized
rules and regulations for bobsledding in 1924. The twoman bobsled competition was introduced in 1932, and
with the four-man bobsled forms the basis of all bobsled competitions. Until the Second World War the nations joining the IBTF were either those with traveling
wealthy elites or those with snow.
Over the years the rules changed to include new
technological developments and to encourage greater
safety. These included the adoption of amateur status
in 1927, the banning of women from competing in
1933, the introduction of maximum weight limits for
bobsled teams in 1939, 1952, 1966, and 1978, and the
introduction of a uniform and standard bobsled for all
competitors in 1984.
Rules and Play
Each bobsled team makes four runs down the course, a
chute of packed ice that twists and turns down an incline. The team with the lowest aggregate time is the
winner. All internationally recognized runs are between 1,200 and 1,600 meters (1,313 and 1,750 yards)
and the run to the finish line down a gradient of between 8 and 15 percent. The first section of the run
lasts for 50 meters and allows team members to push
the bob from the start to build up momentum before
jumping in. Once in the bob, the frontman will take
control and will attempt to keep the bob on the
straightest course. The other members sit as low as
possible to offer the least wind resistance, thereby increasing the speed of the bob.
Since the 1950s the weight limits for both competitions have been standardized to eliminate any advantage for heavier teams. The four-man bob must not
weigh in excess of 630 kilograms (1,389 pounds), and
the two-man bob no more than 375 kilograms (827
pounds). The bob itself is a sectionalized steel structure that is positioned on four blades. The front of the
bob is covered with a streamlined plastic cowling, and
the whole machine is steered by cables attached to the
blades. Since the introduction of the bobsled to the
Olympics, teams from Germany have won the most medals (25), followed by Switzerland (21) and the
United States (14).
Bobsledding as a competitive sport has been dominated by the Winter Olympics. Although the IBTF has
held World Bobsled Championships every year since
1930, these do not reach the same global audience as the
Olympics. This has stunted the growth of bobsledding
compared to other winter sports, such as skiing or ice
skating, which receive regular media coverage through
their national and international championships.
The more fundamental problems that have held
back any wider growth of bobsledding are the limited
availability of runs and the expense. By 1988 the IBTF
recognized 19 official runs, only 3 of which, Calgary
(Canada), Lake Placid, New York (United States), and
Sapporo (Japan) were outside the European Alpine
area. At present even a second-hand bobsled will cost
up to $15,000. Bobsledding is not a sport that the
viewer or spectator can then go out and try.
The nations that have joined the IBTF and who
have competed in the Winter Olympics over the last 50
years are, in the main, those nations with access to
snow who have come late to the event, or those with a
political agenda. Nations such as Andorra, Bulgaria,
Sweden, Chinese Taipei, Venezuela, and the former Yugoslavia have joined the ranks of bobsled nations as a
result of their wider cultural and sporting links with
Alpine sports events. The participation of the former
German Democratic Republic since 1973, the former
Soviet Union since 1980, and China since 1984 has its
roots in the sporting agenda of the communist nations. A new spread of bobsled has taken place in the
last 10 years to nations with no background in winter
sports. This has included the involvement of Australia,
Mexico, and Jamaica in recent Winter Games. These
nations have relied on private funding, foreign
coaches, and huge amounts of travel, as there are no
domestic training facilities. By and large, bobsledding
is still dominated by the original areas where the sport
was taken up and the same class of athlete. At present
over 30 different nations are affiliated with the International Bobsleigh and Tobogganing Federation
(IBTF).
The spectacle of two or four men traveling down a
1,600-meter (1,744-yard) course at speeds approaching 130 kilometers (78 miles) per hour, thereby suffering a centrifugal force of up to 4g’s as they approach a
bend, makes bobsledding in particular one of the most
fascinating winter sports for participant and spectator
alike. While other sports may be in decline, bobsledding is growing and increasing in popularity, especially, and in many ways surprisingly, in countries
where snow is seldom, if ever, seen.
—MICHAEL CRONIN
Bibliography: “Bobsleigh and Olympism.” (1984) Olympic
Review 206 (December): 1003–1030. Kotter, K. (1984) “Le
bobsleigh et la federation internationale de bobsleigh et
de tobogganing.” Message-Olympique (June): 59–66. Mallon, B. (1992) “On Two Blades and a Few Prayers.”
Olympian 18, 6: 54–55. O’Brien, A., and M. O’Bryan.
(1976) Bobsled and Luge. Canada: Colban.