What It Is: The oldest of the three Olympic sliding sports features two or four people crammed into a metal sled that travels down an icy track at speeds that would most likely earn you a ticket on the Interstate.
Better Know A Winter Olympic Sport: Bobsled, More Than Just Cool Runnings
Bobsled, unlike skeleton and luge, is an original Winter Olympic sport, a fixture at every Games, except for 1960, when organizers in Squaw Valley, California decided building a run was cost-prohibitive. Chamonix, France saw a four-man event in 1924, which morphed into a five-man event in St. Moritz, Switzerland four years later, before dropping back down to four in Lake Placid in 1932, which is also when the two-man race began.
Seventy years later, in Salt Lake City, the first women's event, featuring two-woman sleds, joined the program.
Note: The audio track is a bit weird, so you may want to mute this one.
What To Watch For: For starters, the most famous bobsledders in the world won't be back in Canada to reprise their Calgary '88 performance. You know, the one that led to the 1993 hit comedy Cool Runnings.
Oddly enough, the Jamaicans actually got to the point where they finished one spot ahead of the United States in 1994’s four-man event before falling to 21st in 1998, and disappearing completely in 2002. In fact, there is a lack of non-traditional participants in this year’s Games. Countries such as Mexico, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Trinidad and Tobago simply didn’t qualify this time around.
The United States team, on the other hand, has left those dark days of the early ‘90s firmly in the past, and is a serious medal contender this time around. The American four-man sled, piloted by Steven Holcomb captured this season’s World Cup, while Army sergeant John Napier’s USA II finished fourth. Holcomb is also defending World champion. But keep an eye on Germany’s three sleds, particularly the one piloted by Torino gold medalist Andre Lange. He’s one of the most dominant drivers in the world, as he claimed the last four four-man World Cup races this season. The Swiss, Russians, Latvians and host Canadians will also be threats in the main event.
On the two-man side, Holcomb and Napier are also threats, but they’ll have to get past strong pairs from Canada, Germany and Switzerland, including ones piloted by World Cup champ Ivo Rüegg and all-Olympic name team member Beat Hefti.
The only women’s event features pairs and provides another good opportunity for an American medal. The United States’ Shauna Rohbock, who captured a silver with Valerie Fleming in Torino, will look to better that accomplishment this time around with Michelle Rzepka serving as the brakewoman. Rohbock’s sled finished fourth in the World Cup this season, but won twice, including a triumph in the series finale in Igls, Austria. The other American sled, driven by Erin Pac, claimed two World Cup bronzes in 2009-10. Again, the main contenders will come from Germany and Canada. Oddly enough, the German crew of Cathleen Martini and Romy Logsch only managed to finish third in the World Cup, despite winning FIVE of the eight races, while defending Olympic champion Sandra Kiriasis’ sled captured the overall crown without winning a single one. Go figure. (A similar thing happened between Rüegg and Hefti on the two-man side.)
When To Watch: The two-man competition takes place on February 20 and 21; the two-women sleds go on February 23 and 24; and the four-man event closes out competition at the Whistler Sliding Centre on February 26 and 27. Check out the Vancouver 2010 site for complete schedule information.
Why To Watch: The biggest reason is that Holcomb and Napier both have a legitimate chance of grabbing the first American bobsled gold on the men’s side since Francis Tyler’s crew claimed the four-man title in 1948.
Plus, last I checked Americans still liked to watch big things going fast. The U.S. sleds are even designed by a project funded by NASCAR’s Geoff Bodine.
On the TV side, the broadcasts will be treat as they’ll feature the always enthusiastic and instantly recognizable John Morgan, a former bobsledder who has been a fixture of the sport’s TV coverage 1981. He was even served as the commentator for the factually inaccurate race in Cool Runnings.
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