And now the sensational event of this year – the Olympic Games in China is gaining momentum. And if you are not already swimming in this topic like a fish in water, then you have come to the right place. Here you will get a huge amount of useful and specific information about the Olympic Games in general. Let’s delve into such an exciting and at the same time dangerous sport as bobsleigh.
It is one of the regular sports at the Winter Olympics. Every 4 years, the list of sports included in the Olympiad is changed or adjusted. But bobsleigh has been unshakable for 98 years. By the way, in 2 years Bobsleigh celebrates his official anniversary – 100 years in the Winter Olympics. What is it connected with? Yes, with the fact that this sport is not only exciting, but also dangerous. As practice shows, where there is danger, there is adrenaline, and where there is adrenaline, there is an audience, spectacle, and great excitement.
What is this strange sport of bobsledding?
Bobsleigh is a Winter Olympic sport that involves a steep descent over ice troughs on an elongated sled driven by a kind of crew of four. During the race, each crew is given 4 bean races. After that, the time of all four attempts is summed up and the team with the lowest total time wins.
The opinion about bobsleigh is ambiguous, some people think that this is not a competition of athletes, but of the technique and technology itself. And, perhaps, this version has a place to be – not small amounts are spent on improving and equipping beans. Since sled lubricants are banned, experts in the field are constantly working on a more streamlined shape to reduce friction.
What does bob have to do with bobsleigh?
The world’s first beans were made in 1904 from wood. However, due to impracticality and bulkiness, they were soon replaced with steel ones. The crew initially consisted of five people: three men and two women. Soon the number of participants changed to 3, 5 and even 8 people.
In bobsleigh, the human factor and the coherence of the team are very important. For example, let’s take formula 1: a car is a kind of sled and one pilot, who depends on himself and on his technique. And in bobsledding, a sleigh is a car that the whole team rides and victory in the race depends on the whole crew. Therefore, the incompetence of one person in his business can be costly, sometimes even the safety of the entire team.
What is a bob in the modern world?
Currently, the bean is a high-tech engineering project similar to a Formula 1 car that is constantly evolving. Each of the engineers at the moment is striving to improve their offspring, to make it lighter, faster, stronger. Some sleds reach speeds of up to 200 km/h. But such limiting speeds in bobsleigh develop a maximum in tests. After all, the track itself was designed by people and time for the complete safety of athletes, so that the sled with the crew would not develop maximum speed.
The maximum speed that a bob with a crew can develop at competitions in the Olympic games does not exceed 135-140 km / h. After all, people’s lives depend on this factor. Modern bobsleighs have the price of a good prestigious car, and sleds that are developed individually for each team cost several times more than those listed above, about 80 thousand euros. So, to participate in this kind of competition is a great luxury.