Bobsleigh is the fast and dangerous sliding sport which uses a curving ice race track for competition. The sport of bobsleigh has been a highlight of the Winter Olympics since the games began in 1923. The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games included the four-man, two-man, and Women’s (two women) bobsleigh competitions.

The List of qualifiers came out on the Jan 27, 2010 from the FIBT.

30 teams for 4-man bobsleigh: USA 3, GER 3, RUS 3, CAN 2, LAT 2, SUI 2, AUT 2, CZE 2, GBR, POL, NED, ROU, SVK, ITA, KOA, CRO, LIE, JPN, SRB.http://fibt.com/fileadmin/Newsletter_PDFs/Olympic%20Quotas_Final/4-man%20Quotas.pdf

30 teams for 2-man bobsleigh: GER 3, SUI 3, USA 3, CAN 2, RUS 2, ITA 2, AUT 2, LAT 2, AUS 2, GBR, NED, ROU, CZE, POL, SVK, MON, LIE, JPN.http://fibt.com/fileadmin/Newsletter_PDFs/Olympic%20Quotas_Final/2-man%20Quotas.pdf

20 teams for women's bobsleigh: GER 3, USA 3, CAN 2, SUI 2, GBR 2, RUS 2, NED, ITA, BEL, ROU, IRL, JPN.http://fibt.com/fileadmin/Newsletter_PDFs/Olympic%20Quotas_Final/Women%27s%20Bobsleigh%20Quotas.pdf

2-17-2010 Seven teams crashed during Wednesday's training runs and one Australian was admitted to a hospital.http://www.ctvolympics.ca/bobsleigh/news/newsid=45355.html

While the Winter Olympics only occur every four years bobsled athletes compete every year in the World Cup races. The committed athletes will train for strength and speed even during the off season.

While the World Cup races consist of two timed heats for the Bobsleigh competition, the Olympics have four heats. The team with the shortest combined time for the four runs wins. The times are measured in the hundredth seconds and there is little time separating the Medal winners from the losers. The bobsleds are aerodynamic built machines that must comply with Federation Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT) standards for the vehicles and rules for them to be raced. http://www.fibt.com/fileadmin/Rules/Reg.BOBSLEIGH-2008%20-%20E.pdf

This Bobsleigh completion for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics was held at the Whistler Sliding Centre. The track was completed in 2007 and has a length of 1450 meters, 16 corners, and a 152 meter vertical drop. http://whistlerslidingcentre.com/venue/facts/tabid/105/language/en-CA/default.aspx/ref? While Switzerland has dominated the sport by winning 30 Olympic Medals in the Bobsleigh, it is Germany’s Andre Lange who won the Gold for the two man Bobsleigh and Silver for the Four-man bobsled. The USA Olympic Bobsleigh Team won a Gold in four mann with Steve Holcomb who won the World Championships in 2009. <ref>http://www.nbcolympics.com/news-features/news/newsid=261406.html#bobsled+what+expect Canada won bronze in the fourn man and gold and silver in the women bobsleigh taking advantage of home field..

The popular comedy movie “Cool Runnings,” staring the late John Candy brought to the movie screen the efforts of the Jamaica bobsled team in 1988 Calgary Olympics. The Jamaican Bobsleigh team, however, did not qualify for the 2010 Olympic games as only the top fifty ranked teams are allowed to compete.http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/06/sports/olympics/6rings.html

Winners