Skeleton: the history of origin, essence and features

Skeleton is an Olympic winter sport, which consists of a descent down an ice chute, on a special sleigh with two runners, mounted on a frame. The winner of the competition is the athlete who, in the result of two or four races in total, gets the best result. About skeleton, as a sport in more detail tell our article.

Contents:

• History of the skeleton
  
• What is the essence of the skeleton?
  
• Sledge for skeleton
  
• Track

History of skeleton

Beginning skeleton laid sleigh descents from the snow-covered Alpine mountains. Competitions on the sleigh were very popular in the middle of the XIX century. Skeleton became a kind of transformation of the descent from the mountains on toboggan. Toboggan was a wooden sleigh without runners.


The first skeleton match took place in 1905, at the bobsled competition. In 1906, the first skeleton championship in Austria was held. In 1926, the International Olympic Committee was offered such sports as skeleton and bobsleigh, which were included in the map of the competitions of the Second Winter Olympic Games in 1928.After the V Olympic Games in 1948, the skeleton comes out of the Olympiad for 53 years and appears in them only in 2002.

To date, skeleton is one of the most popular types of winter sports.

What is the essence of the skeleton?

Briefly and visually the essence of the skeleton will be transmitted by our infographics.


The athlete maximally disperses the skeleton from the mountain, holding the handle. When the skeletonist reaches the maximum speed of acceleration, quickly falls on the skeleton. The time starts counting from the moment the skeleton crosses the chronometer beam, which is located at a distance of 15 meters from the start.

Then the athlete descends the track, controlling the skeleton with the help of body movements or special shoes. In this case, his body position should contribute to maximum speed.


The winners after all stages of the races - three, they occupy: first, second and third place, depending on their overall result.

Sledge for skeleton


The skeleton is quite heavy, the maximum weight of the skeleton and the male athlete is 115 kg, the female weight is 92 kg. To achieve the norm, the sled ballast is either extracted or added.

Sleds for skeleton are made of high-quality fiberglass and steel. The bottom of the skeleton is treated with a wax polish that smooths the surface and creates a film along which the air glides perfectly, thereby increasing the speed of movement.

Skids of skeleton made of high-carbon steel, this material allows you not to blunt the base for a long time. The skids themselves are not sharpened, but thoroughly polished.


Track

The ice trough is a sports track of the skeleton. The track is an artificial ice surface made of snow and ice. At the bottom of the trough is a refrigeration unit, which maintains a low temperature on the surface of the track. In the center of the route there are two rails. Coverage should be perfectly smooth, as the speed of the athlete and even his life depends on this.

We recommend to see a couple of videos that tell about the skeleton, in general, and about quite interesting facts about it.

The first video is a transfer dedicated to the skeleton as a sport.



In the second video you will see a fragment of the cognitive television program, which tells a lot of interesting things about the skeleton.