Top 5 Facts: Bobsleighs

Palace

The first ever bobsleigh track was built by St Moritz’s Palace Hotel owner Caspar Badrutt in 1870. It was subsequently used for two Winter Olympic games and is still in use today.

Fatal

Due to the high speeds while running a bobsleigh track, there have been 16 fatalities since 1933. Six of these were during practice runs for the World Championships.

Record

The fastest speed attained in a bobsled is 201kph (124.9mph), yet the US Bobsled & Skeleton Federation has since claimed it lower to account for wind, slope angle and ice condition.

Cool

Despite being portrayed as illegal in the film Cool Runnings, the addition of metal weights to the front of any bobsleigh is a perfectly legal way of increasing speed.

Hundredths

As with other high-speed sports such as F1, competitive bobsleigh runs are measured in hundredths of seconds, making even the smallest errors affect the final time.