Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation.
Skeleton is a winter sliding sport in which a person rides a small sled, known as a skeleton bobsled, down a frozen track while lying face down and head-first. The sport and the sled may have been named from the bony appearance of the sled.
The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) is the international sports federation for the sliding sports of Bobsleigh and Skeleton. It was founded on 23 November 1923 by the delegates of Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Canada, and the United States at the meeting of their first International Congress in Paris, France. In June 2015, it announced a name change from FIBT to IBSF. The federation's headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The IBSF World Championships, part of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, have taken place on an annual basis since 1930. Starting with 2002, no World Championships being held in non-Winter Olympic years. A two-man event was included in 1931 with a combined championship occurring in 1947. Men's skeleton was introduced as a championship of its own in 1982 while women's bobsleigh and skeleton events were introduced in 2000. Both the women's bobsleigh and skeleton events were merged with the men's bobsleigh events at the 2004 championships. A mixed team event, consisting of one run each of men's skeleton, women's skeleton, 2-man bobsleigh, and 2-women bobsleigh, was held from 2007 to 2019. In 2020 it was replaced with skeleton mixed team event, consisting of one run each of men's and women's skeleton. Women's monobob event was included in 2021.
The FIBT World Championships 2008 ran February 11–24, 2008 in Altenberg, Germany for the fifth time, having done so in 1991 (bobsleigh), 1994 (skeleton), 1999 (skeleton), and 2000. It is the first time Altenberg has hosted all of those events at one championship, and also includes the mixed team event that debuted at the 2007 championships. Training for the events took place February 12–14 for two-man and two-woman bobsleigh, and February 19–20 for skeleton and four-man bobsleigh.
The FIBT World Championships 2009, officially known as the Bauhaus FIBT Bobsleigh & Skeleton World Championships, February 20 to March 1, 2009, at the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track in Lake Placid, New York, for the ninth time, doing so previously in 1949, 1961, 1969, 1973, 1978, 1983, 1997 (skeleton), and 2003. Lake Placid was chosen 25–11 over Igls, Austria.
The Canada Olympic Park bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track is a bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track located in Calgary, Alberta. Part of Canada Olympic Park, it hosted the bobsleigh and luge competitions at the 1988 Winter Olympics. This track is one of only two of its type in the world to be featured in a non-documentary film when it was part of the 1993 American film Cool Runnings which loosely followed the Jamaican Bobsled Team during their competition in bobsleigh at the 1988 Games.
The FIBT World Championships 2013 took place at the St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic Bobrun in St. Moritz, Switzerland, for the record twenty-second time, after hosting the event previously in 1931 (Four-man), 1935 (Four-man), 1937 (Four-man), 1938 (Two-man), 1939 (Two-man), 1947, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1965, 1970, 1974, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1989 (Skeleton), 1990 (Bobsleigh), 1997 (Bobsleigh), 1998 (Skeleton), 2001, and 2007.
South Korea competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, from 9 to 25 February 2018, as the host nation. It was represented by 122 competitors[a] in all 15 disciplines.
The European Bobsleigh and Skeleton Championships are the main bobsleigh and skeleton championships in Europe. The first bobsleigh European Championships with two-man event was held in 1929 in Davos, Switzerland. However, as Bobsleigh World Championships started to be held on an annual basis since following year, European Championships didn't resumed until 1965. A four-man event was included in 1967 when first combined championship occurred. The men's European Skeleton Championships were held separately in 1981–1988 before resuming in 2003 when women's skeleton event was added as well. In 2004 the first women's European Bobsleigh Championship was held with two-woman event. The following year both the women's bobsleigh and skeleton events were merged with the men's bobsleigh events at the European Championships. Since then, all bobsleigh and skeleton events are usually competes at the same time and venue. Women's monobob event was included in 2022.
The mixed team event in the IBSF World Championships 2016 was held on 14 February 2016.
Canada competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from February 9 to 25, 2018. It was the nation's 23rd appearance at the Winter Olympics, having competed at every Games since their inception in 1924. Canada competed in all sports disciplines, except Nordic combined. The chef de mission was Isabelle Charest, who was appointed in February 2017.
The United States competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from February 9 to 25, 2018.
Germany competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 25 February 2018, with 153 competitors in 14 sports. They won 31 medals in total, 14 gold, 10 silver and 7 bronze, ranking second in the medal table after Norway at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Germany excelled in ice track events, biathlon, Nordic combined and Ski jumping. The men's ice hockey team took a silver medal, having lost a closely contested final to Olympic Athletes from Russia.
Austria competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 25 February 2018, with 105 competitors in 12 sports. They won 14 medals in total: five gold, three silver and six bronze; ranking 10th in the medal table.
The Mixed team competition at the IBSF World Championships 2019 was held on March 3, 2019.
The 2020 IBSF World Championships were held in Altenberg, Germany from 21 February to 1 March 2020.
The 2021 IBSF World Championships was held in Altenberg, Germany from 5 to 14 February 2021. They were originally awarded to Lake Placid but were moved because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The four-man competition in bobsleigh at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held on 19 February and 20 February, at the Xiaohaituo Bobsleigh and Luge Track in Yanqing District of Beijing. Francesco Friedrich, Thorsten Margis, Candy Bauer, and Alexander Schüller of Germany won the gold medal, and Friedrich thereby successfully defended his 2018 Olympic title. Germany-2 driven by Johannes Lochner won the silver medal, and Canada-1, driven by Justin Kripps, won the bronze.
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