The Slippery Slope to Victory

I think it’s fair to say that I’m obsessed with watching the Winter Olympics. I feel as though I know our athletes personally, and have been reduced to tears when I watch them celebrate their well-deserved victories. Watching so many events, however, has left me feeling somewhat deluded; it’s not uncommon for me to blurt things out like, “Hey! Maybe I could get into speed skating!”

My latest interest? The bobsleigh. It’s making headlines all across Canada as we took home both the gold and silver medals in Wednesday’s race. The gold went to Canadian pair Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse, while their fellow teammates Helen Upperton and Shelly-Ann Brown slid into silver.

At a glance, I naively assumed that bobsleigh athletes needed to do nothing more than push push push at the beginning and let themselves slide – essentially a toboggan at warp speed. This is so far from the truth that I was compelled to both laugh at myself, then dedicate this blog to informing Olympic fans of the science and skill behind the event and its athletes.

The bobsleigh’s design is carefully engineered to be aerodynamic, sturdy and within the weight restrictions imposed by the Olympics committee. It sits atop four runners aligned in two rows, and is equipped with both brakes and a steering mechanism. The brakes consist of a jagged piece of metal, and the steering mechanism is a set of steering “rings” attached to a rope-and-pulley system. The pulley is connected to the front runners, so that when the driver tugs on the left ring, the runners adjust and steer the sleigh to the left. The bobsleigh’s driver sits in front and operates the steering rings, while the brakeman sits in back and controls the sleigh’s braking mechanism.

The beginning of the race is a huge determinant in the racers’ overall score. Logically speaking, the push-off and gravity are the only things responsible for the sleigh’s terrific speed. The pair approaches the sleigh at a sprint, wearing shoes fitted with specially designed picks to grip the solid-ice track. They then push the sleigh as fast as they can before jumping aboard it — no small feat as the minimum weight for an empty bobsleigh comes in at an impressive 384 pounds!

From the push-off the driver must then attempt to steer the sleigh down what is known as “the line,” or most effective path down the icy slope. The riders lean into curves when necessary to help the sleigh maintain speeds of up to 145 km/h!

There is clearly more at work than a joyride here – I think I’ll leave this one up to the pros. Lifestyle congratulates the Canadian bobsledding team on this slippery victory!

— Stephanie Maris