Imagine you've built a
big, beautiful hotel in the mountains. Tourists come flooding in for the summer
months for the beautiful weather, breathtaking scenery and to visit the mineral
spas. But it's dead in the bleak winter months. It's also difficult to get
around on the snow-covered roads.
You can't make the snow
go away. Your plan for year-round success must involve embracing the snow and
your surroundings. This is the exact attitude Caspar Badrutt had when he
decided to make St. Moritz, Switzerland the place to visit in summer or winter.
People loved sledding so why not put the snowy, mountainous landscape to use
and create a wager with some English tourists to race down the lanes and
alleyways? This is how the sliding sports of bobsled, luge and skeleton were
born.
Since the idea for
these sports took hold over 150 years ago, the sleds and tracks have improved
dramatically, the best sliding athletes have strict training schedules and
vacations to Switzerland in the winter are mostly for skiing.
See athletes at the top
of their games compete in bobsled, luge and skeleton at the 2018 Whistler
Olympics.
Bobsled
Bobsled teams consist
of either two or four people (women only compete in the two person event).
Every team includes a driver (sits at the front and steers) and brakeman (sits
at the back and puts on the brakes after crossing the finish line). The four
person team includes a couple extra people to help with the running start,
called pushers.
Like all of the sliding
sports, bobsled is competed on an icy track with many twists and turns to
navigate. Bobsled races are very close and every fraction of a second counts.
The fastest team will have the best combination of aerodynamics, weight, skill
and initial push off strength.
In the Olympics, each
bobsled event consists of four runs. The team with the lowest combined time
wins.
Luge
Luge is both a single
and team sport for men and women. The speed of a luge run ranks right up there
with the bobsled, but without the comfort of a sled casing to surround the
athlete.
Luge sleds are flat and
constructed of fibreglass and metal runners. Athletes ride the sled on their
backs, feet first. Unlike the other sliding events, there is no running start.
Instead, competitors start sitting upright on the sled, propel themselves
forward by pushing off handlebars and then paddle the track with their hands
before lying down.
Just like bobsled,
every second counts in a luge race. Mistakes made at the top of the track are
most detrimental as the athlete needs to make up time the rest of the way down.
Unlike the bobsled, luge sleds have no steering devices. Athletes are able to
manipulate the direction of the sled by shifting their body weight.
In the Olympics, the
singles events consist of four timed runs. The doubles event has only two timed
runs. The winners of each event are determined by combining the times of all
runs.
Skeleton
The sport of skeleton
has been around since the late 1800's but was not officially included as an
Olympic sport until 2002. Both men and women compete in skeleton, which is a
singles-only sport.
Skeleton athletes slide
down the track on their sleds, stomach facing downward, head first. They gather
speed at the top of the track with a running start (approximately 25 - 40
metres) before jumping onto the sled.
The construction of a
skeleton sled is similar to the luge sled in that it is made of fibreglass and
metal runners. The shape of the sled is quite different though - like a
skeleton (hence the name). Like the luge sled, skeleton sleds have no steering
mechanisms, but they also have no brakes! Athletes must drag their feet to
stop.
In the Olympics, the
men's and women's sliding events consist of four runs each with the best
combined time winning.
Devon O'Malley is a
staff writer for Allura Direct, a vacation rentals website featuring properties
in ski resorts that can be booked directly from the owner.
Article Source:
https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Devon_O'Malley/49138
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/2064793
No comments:
Post a Comment