Bobsleigh

Bobsleigh

Bobsleigh is a winter sport of a still relatively young history because he has been developed only at the end of the 19th century. In 1888 it was invented in Switzerland, by an Englishman Bob, this was made of two sleds, a board and a driving mechanism from ropes. The racetracks existed even earlier as toboggan runs mainly designed for the transportation of timber. Bobsleigh has become an Olympic discipline, and becomes predominant in Germany in Winterberg, Königssee, Altenberg and Oberhof. It’s official history begins in 1923, when bobsleigh World Championships, the Olympic games and competitions by the Federation Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganig (FIBT) were first held.

The Bob itself consists of a wire, and the vehicle skids, the shape is aerodynamically designed. The Bob sleds may be of a maximum weight of 630 kg and of a minimum weight of 170 kg. The racetrack is about 1.2 to 1.6 km long and consists of a frozen soil mostly artificial nowadays. The winter sports gives the participants a huge dose of adrenaline as speeds can up to 100 km / h are common here. Bobsleigh is not a professional sport, it can also be exercised by amateurs but a certain portion of courage should be got by its doers. While on departure the bob must be pushed by someone first, moreover the strength of the push will determine the speed the bob will run.

If bobsleigh is offered during the winter vacation, there should another person for the first push, so that no one must jump in the bob and injury – risks are minimized. Bobsleigh is particularly wide spread in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, Austria, Norway, Canada, USA, Japan in Latvia.