Bobsleigh
Get to know the history and rules of the bobsleigh
If you like your winter sports fast, thrilling and totally unique, then bobsleigh is for you. Here's everything you need to know about fastest sport on ice.
Bobsleigh is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular winter sports. Combining speed, precision and team spirit, it's a sport that captivates thanks to its roller coaster-like ice track that the sleds slide over at speeds of over 120kph. If you've never had the chance to sit down and watch a world class bobsleigh race, don't worry, you're in for a treat and here's everything you need to know what it's all about.
As the name suggests, a bobsleigh is essentially a modern design on the sleds that have been used for millennia to move people around in frozen winter environments. In these sleds, teams of either two or four athletes hurtle down icy tracks at high speed. Fastest time from top to bottom wins. Simple, isn't it?
Actually, bobsleigh is a lot more complex than it first appears. The discipline requires perfect knowledge of courses and ice conditions, and incredible coordination between the members of each team. Without that, it's very easy to fall foul of the rules or crash – and as the sleds can reach speeds of 150kph, it's best to avoid those.
01
The history of bobsleigh
Bobsleigh first appeared at the end of the 19th century in Switzerland and the first competition was held in famed ski town St. Moritz in 1889. At the time, participants raced on traditional wooden sleds equipped with steel blades. By 1914, the sport had already begun to gain popularity, particularly in the Alps.
The name bobsleigh (or bobsled), comes from the movements the competitors made as they bounced downhill. The 'bob' part comes from the head nodding the rough ground caused in the sledders.
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Red Bull Bob Heroes action clip
Vintage bobsleighers act the part as they hurtle down the old track near Garmisch in Germany.
In an age-old quest to go faster, sleds were soon modernised, switching from wood to metal, and in 1923 the FIBT (Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing) was founded - today renamed as the IBSF (International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation). At the first Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix, France, bobsleigh and tobogganing were both contested, first by teams of four and then by teams of two as well four years later. Since then, the format has remained the same, with two-man and four-man bobsleigh medals up for grabs.
Around the 1950s, the sport began to develop at a rapid pace and resemble what we know today, with the start becoming increasingly important to launch the bobsleigh down the course at high speed. As a result, many people from an athletics backgrounds began to enter the sport, drafted in for their explosive power. Total weight for the bobsleigh and passengers was also limited, pushing the discipline into ever more serious territory. Before this, the norm was to assemble a rather imposing unit in order to benefit from maximum speed, with some title-winning teams weighing an average of 118kg per person.
Back in the early days bobsleigh racing a lot more 'rustic'
© Hans Herbig/Red Bull Content Pool
In the early 1990s, women entered the sport professionally at World Cup and Olympic level, and then the one-person monobob was recognised as an Olympic discipline for Beijing 2022.
02
The rules of bobsleigh racing
Bobsleigh teams can be made up of two or four members and each one has very specific role: the driver is seated at the front, followed by two pushers who put the power down at the push start, while at the back is the brakeman, tasked with slowing the bobsleigh down. In two-person bobsleighs, the pushers are not part of the equation. Driver and brakeman also deliver the power at the start.
Rostislav Gaitiukevich and his team practice their launch in Sochi
© Denis Klero/Red Bull Content Pool
At the start of a run, all the team members push the bobsleigh from outside before jumping in. This moment is absolutely crucial to success, because a slow or messy entry into the sled means a loss of speed for the entire rest of the course. On average, a 0.1s time loss at the start becomes 0.2s (or more) by the finish.
During a competition, crews make two or four runs, depending on the event type and organiser. The starting order of the first run is determined by the current world rankings, with the highest ranked teams benefiting from fresher, smoother ice. Then, those who finished with the best time on the first day start last during the second runs. For the third run, the participants start in the order of their ranking again and, finally, the 20 best teams start the fourth run in reverse order based on time.
In order to keep the playing field as level as possible, all bobsleighs competing at an international level must be built using materials supplied by the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation and are inspected to check that they comply with all regulations. They have a minimum and maximum weight that must be respected, as well as various other dimensions.
It's a tight squeeze in a four-man bobsleigh
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
At it's core bobsleigh racing is a simple sport: after the start and the initial push, it's all a question of trajectory. The bob is only controlled by the pilot, the brakeman and gravity. Teams have to stay as close to the centre of the bends at all costs –– go high up the wall of a bend and the bobsleigh cover a longer distance, meaning a slower time, while dropping down to the bottom means that the centrifugal force weakens, making it harder to get out of the bend without losing speed. Too high or too low in the turns also risks the bobsleigh hitting the walls of the track and crashing, something that definitely doesn't feel good.
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The essential bobsleigh equipment
As you might expect, today's bobsleighs are no longer made of wood. In the 21st century, cutting edge materials like carbon fibre and other lightweight composites have entered the sport. They aren't super light however, tipping the scales around 175kg. Some things are still kept from the old days however, like the two wire-rigged rings drivers pull on the steer the bobsleigh. The brakes are jagged bars that dig into the ice and slow the sled. Unlike in other speed sports, they're only used once teams crossed the finish line.
The rest of the equipment consists of full face helmets like those worn in motor racing, a skin-tight lycra suit to reduce wind resistance and studded boots for grip and support on the ice during the push start. And we're not talking about football-style boots here, there are at least 250 spikes on the sole of the shoes – a lot.
04
Physical preparation for bobsledders
To cope with the insane speeds and forces of up to 5G, the equivalent of what an F1 driver feels in the middle of a fast turn, bobsledders train hard.
Explosiveness and raw power are essential for the initial sprint to get the bobsleigh up to speed as quickly as possible and bobsledders train hard. The best, for example, are capable of running 100m in 11 seconds, but they can also lift very serious serious weights. What's more, as the weight of the whole team counts, everything from sprints to weightlifting is a team effort. Sprints over short distances up to 15, 20 and 30m and heavy pushing exercises are common – and very hard work.
Bobsleigh athletes are incredibly powerful and explosive
© Denis Klero/Red Bull Content Pool
It isn't just the weight factor that makes training as a team important. In a sport where the first few seconds is so vital, working on synchronisation to ensure a fast, clean and smooth start is something teams work on constantly.
05
The great bobsleigh nations
Over the years, Switzerland and Germany have established themselves as the two greatest bobsleigh nations. Before them, when the international federation hadn't yet set standardised rules for the construction of the machines, the United States came to dominate the discipline, thanks especially to their technological ascendancy. Then, of course, there's Jamaica. Even if Cool Runnings was a fictionalised movie, it was based on a true story of the nation's team journey to the 1988 Winter Games and the nation has been a fixture in the sport since.