Former U.S. skeleton athlete John Daly was once asked why anyone would decide to hurl themselves, head first, down an ice-coated mountainside chute on a thin sled with no safety equipment other than a helmet.
Daly laughed. “If I knew that, I probably wouldn’t be out here,” he said.
Skeleton will be the sport for thrill-seekers to watch during the Milan Cortina Olympics. Not everyone can skate, not everyone has been on skis, very few would dare to try ski jumping, but anyone who has ever played in the snow probably knows the feeling of what skeleton athletes get on race day. It’s the thrill of being on a sled, picking up speed, trying to figure out how to steer without having anything to steer with, then getting up and doing it all over again.
It’s been in the Olympics since 1928, but took two long hiatuses and returned to the program in 2002.
How it works
Skeleton is the head-first sliding sport. Races begin with the sled on the ice, and the slider grabbing one of its handles, usually with one hand. The slider runs about 30 meters or so to build up speed, then leaps onto the sled and settles in for a ride that can exceed 80 mph (129 kph) down the track. Athletes steer with subtle shifts of their body and legs, all while their chins are often no more than a few inches from the surface of the ice.
Who to watch
There might not be a bigger gold-medal favorite at the Milan Cortina Games than British men’s skeleton athlete Matt Weston, the world champion who has simply dominated most World Cup and international fields. He was only 15th at the Beijing Games, then has gone gold-silver-gold in the last three world championships. In the women’s race, there are a slew of medal favorites and the sentimental choice might be Austrian great Janine Flock, maybe the top female skeleton racer ever, but she has yet to win an Olympic medal or a world championships gold. And in the debut of the mixed team skeleton event at the Olympics, watch Americans Mystique Ro and Austin Florian, the reigning world champions in that race.
Venues and dates
Competition will take place from Feb. 12-15 at the Cortina Sliding Center.
Memorable moments
Jimmy Shea and Tristan Gale won gold for the U.S. when the sport returned to the Olympic program at Salt Lake City in 2002. Shea was racing shortly after the death of his grandfather, Olympic speedskater Jack Shea, who won two gold medals at Lake Placid in 1932, and Jimmy Shea’s father Jim was an Olympic skier for the U.S. in 1964. Canada’s Jon Montgomery went from national here to national legend at the 2010 Vancouver Games when he won gold in the men’s skeleton race. On his way to an interview afterwards, an onlooker handed him a pitcher of beer and he promptly chugged about half of it.
Fun facts
The sport dates to the late 19th century, and its rather unusual name is believed to come from how the first metal sleds built for the sport had a bony, skeletal appearance. Skeleton was in the 1928 and 1948 Olympic programs, then fell into obscurity before it was revived as a World Cup sport and returned to the Olympics in 2002.
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