Bobsled at the Winter Olympics: What to Know

Few events at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics match the raw speed and controlled chaos of bobsled. From the explosive push start to high-speed runs down the Italian Dolomites, it remains one of the Games’ most visceral spectacles. In Olympic bobsled, teams sprint to push a sled, jump in and steer it down a narrow, banked ice track.

Sleds can reach nearly 90 miles per hour, drivers endure intense G-forces, and tracks that can stretch a mile often produce finishes decided by hundredths of a second. Bobsled appeared at the first Winter Games in 1924 with the four-man event; the two-man race was added in 1932.

Women’s two-woman debuted in 2002, and the women’s monobob, a solo discipline, was introduced in 2022. This year’s competition at the Cortina Sliding Centre includes two-man, four-man, two-woman and women’s monobob events. Races consist of four timed runs over two days, with combined times determining final standings.

Italy, Milan Cortina

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