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Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making 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, also known as FIBT from the French Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing. National competitions are often governed by bodies such as the United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton, and the German Bobsleigh, Luge, and Skeleton Federation.
Skeleton returned to the program of the Winter Olympic Games for the first time in 54 years at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. This was the first time Olympic competitions in skeleton were held during an Olympics outside of St. Moritz. Both men and women competed, with women competing for the first time in Olympic history. Medals were awarded after five runs down the course. Both events were contested on February 20.
Tristan Gale is an American skeleton racer who competed from 2001 to 2006. At the 2002 Winter Olympics, she became the inaugural women's skeleton champion. Gale dyed her hair with streaks of red, white and blue for the 2002 Olympics. During the 2002–2003 season, Tristan won a second gold medal on her home track in Salt Lake during a World Cup stop. She remains undefeated at the track in Utah since the Olympics.
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.
Frank Kleber is a German skeleton racer who has competed since 2000. He won two medals at the FIBT World Championships with a gold in 2007 and a bronze in 2004.
Maya Pedersen-Bieri is a Swiss-Norwegian skeleton racer who has competed since 1995. She won the gold medal in the women's skeleton event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. She retired from the sport in 2010 before returning to compete for Norway in 2016, becoming at the oldest woman to start a World Cup race when she returned to the top level of skeleton in 2017. She is listed in the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation athlete registration system as Maya Pedersen.
Mellisa Hollingsworth is a retired Canadian athlete who competed from 1995 to 2014. She won the bronze medal in the women's skeleton event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
Anja Huber is a German skeleton racer who has competed since 2003. She earned two gold medals at the 2008 FIBT World Championships in Altenberg, Germany, winning them in women's skeleton and the mixed bobsleigh-skeleton team event.
Ireland competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, United States.
The IBSF World Championships, part of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, have taken place on an annual basis since 1930. Starting with 2002, championships of non-Winter Olympic years have not been held. 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 debuted in 2007.
Angelika Neuner is an Austrian luger who competed from 1987 to 2002. Competing in four Winter Olympics, she won two medals in the women's singles event with a silver in 1992 and a bronze in 1998. Her younger sister, Doris, won the gold medal in the same event at Albertville in 1992.
Steffi Jacob is a German skeleton racer who has competed in the early 2000s. She won a gold medal in the inaugural women's skeleton event at the 2000 FIBT World Championships in Igls.
Lindsay Alcock is a Canadian skeleton racer who has competed since 1998. She won a silver medal in the women's skeleton event at the 2004 FIBT World Championships in Königssee.
Eiko Nakayama is a Japanese skeleton racer who has competed since 1999. Competing in two Winter Olympics, she earned her best finish of 12th in the women's skeleton event at Salt Lake City in 2002.
Cindy Ninos is a Greek skeleton racer who competed in the early 2000s. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, she finished 13th in the women's skeleton event.
Frank Rommel is a German retired skeleton racer who began competing internationally in 2002. He won two medals at the FIBT World Championships with a gold in the mixed team (2009) and a bronze in the men's skeleton event 2008.
Costanza Zanoletti is an Italian skeleton racer who has competed since 2002. She finished fifth in the women's skeleton event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
Amy Gough is a Canadian skeleton racer who has competed since 2002. Her best result in a Skeleton World Cup event was first at Winterberg, Germany in December 2011, while her best overall finish in a Skeleton World Cup was fifth in the 2010–11 Skeleton World Cup.
Bree Schaaf is an American skeleton racer who competed from 2002 to 2007, then switched over to bobsled as a pilot from 2007 to 2014. Her best Skeleton World Cup finish was sixth at Calgary in November 2006.
Tonia Couch is a former British Olympic diver.
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