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.
Phylicia George is a Canadian Olympic track and field athlete and bobsledder.
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.
Elena Valeryevna Nikitina is a Russian skeleton racer who joined the national squad in 2009. She rides a Schneider sled, and her coach is Denis Alimov. Before starting skeleton, she was an association football player.
Switzerland competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 25 February 2018, with 166 competitors in 14 sports. They won 15 medals in total, ranking 7th in the medal table.
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.
Great Britain competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 25 February 2018, with 58 competitors in 11 sports. They won five medals in total, one gold and four bronze, ranking 19th in the medal table.
Belgium competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 25 February 2018, with 22 competitors in 9 sports. They won one silver medal, the country's first Winter Olympic medal since 1998, ranking 25th in the medal table.
Johannes Lochner is a German bobsledder who competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing where he won two silver medals.
Rudy Rinaldi is a Monegasque bobsledder. He competed in the two-man event at the 2018 Winter Olympics. In January 2022, Rinaldi qualified to compete for Monaco at the 2022 Winter Olympics in the two-man bob event. Rinaldi and Boris Vain finished sixth in Beijing, 0.56 seconds back of the bronze medalists Christoph Hafer and Matthias Sommer; this is the closest any athlete from Monaco has come to winning an Olympic medal in an actual sporting event..
Mariama Jamanka is a journalist and retired German bobsledder who won Gold in the two-woman event with Lisa Buckwitz at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Kristen Bujnowski is a Canadian bobsledder.
Jamaica competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, from 4 to 20 February 2022.
Tunisia competed at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics in Gangwon, South Korea, from January 19 to February 1, 2024. This was Tunisia's debut appearance at the Winter Youth Olympic Games. This will mark the country's first ever participation at a Winter or Winter Youth Olympics.
Thailand competed at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics in Gangwon, South Korea, from January 19 to February 1, 2024. This was Thailand's second appearance at the Winter Youth Olympic Games, having competed debuted at the previous edition in 2020.
Romania is scheduled to compete at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics in Gangwon, South Korea, from January 19 to February 1, 2024, This will be Romania's fourth appearance at the Winter Youth Olympic Games, having competed at every Games since the inaugural edition in 2012.
Agnese Campeol is an Italian-born Thai bobsledder who began competing for the national team in 2023 and won the silver medal in the women's monobob event at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics, becoming the first Thai athlete to win a medal at the Winter Youth Olympics or Winter Olympics.
