Olympic Skeleton, Events, News, Athletes, Teams, Pictures

MAIN Sports Olympic Games Olympic Skeleton

No bones about it, Skeleton is the event which is likey to take your breath away - as athletes speed face down on their sleds, staring death square in the face as the force of gravity shoots them literally headlong at 80 mph around some of the sharpest and iciest corners in sport.

Little is known about the early origins of skeleton, but the first documented dare devils to execute it was at St. Moritz in 1887, a natural evolution of tobogganing and bobsleighing so popular at the time.

The first skeleton runs were natural tracks, but later the straight downhill courses were modified by adding curves to make the sport more challenging.

The aerodynamics of the prone skeleton position resulted in incredible speeds, and soon everyone was competing in the same way, leading to the evolution of a lighter weight and streamlined sled dubbed the "skeleton" today resembling nothing more than an oversized cafeteria tray.

"Skeleton" first appeared in the Olympic program in 1928, and then again in 1948, both times in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The sport returned to Olympics again at Salt Lake City in 2002, when local favorite skeleton champ Jimmy Shea, Jr. took home the gold.

More about Olympic skeleton around the Web:

International Olympic Committee - Skeleton - Overview of the luge competitions, list of events, Olympic records, athlete profiles, Flash presentation, picture gallery, related links.

Skeletonsport.com - Latest news, athlete profiles and pictures, race schedule, plus forum and messageboard with membership.

FIBT Bobsleigh and Skeleton - International Federation offering news & pictures, sport history, rules and regulations, race schedules, records and results, TV schedule, related links.

USA Bobsled and Skeleton Federation - National governing body featuring news, photos, athlete profiles, bobsled an skeleton history, records and results, related links.