Syracuse.com - Olympic bobsled, luge, skeleton: What's the difference?

[HuntingNY-News]

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All three Olympic slider sports - luge, bobsled and skeleton -- entail a simple principle: getting down the mountainside the fastest on a sled.

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<p><br />LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- All three Olympic slider sports - luge, bobsled and skeleton -- entail a simple principle: getting down the mountainside the fastest on a sled.</p>

<div id="asset-14258847" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_right"><span class="adv-photo-large"><img src="/static/common/img/blank.gif" class="lazy adv-photo" data-original="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/14258847-large.jpg" alt="APTOPIX Sochi Olympics Ske.JPG" /><span class="photo-data"><span class="caption">:Katie Uhlaender of the United States starts a run during women's skeleton training at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. </span><span class="byline">AP Photo/Dita Alangkara</span></span></span> </div>

<p>They all use the same course - an ice-covered run of about a mile long with huge, banking turns that the rider(s) must navigate at progressively faster speeds as they get toward the finish.They often approach 80 mph. The sleds in each sport are different.</p>

<p><strong>LUGE:</strong> The luge is the only sliding sport where the racer starts on the sled. The racer, lying on the sled feet first, grabs a set of bars on either side and yanks him or herself forward at the start.</p>

<p>The two-man luge starts the same way, but on a slightly longer sled. Both men are seated at the start. The top man (in the front), grabs on the start bars. The man on the bottom (in back) grabs ahold of straps on the front man's arms. They pull together to start, then lean back for the ride.</p>

<p>Luge riders steer by putting pressure on the front of the sled with one leg or another (right leg to go left, left leg to go right). They also steer by pressing down on the back of the sled with their shoulders.</p>

<p><strong>SKELETON:</strong> The skeleton sled is like a souped-up, Flexible Flyer. The body is made of carbon fiber, the chassis is steel and it has round, stainless steel runners.</p>

<p>Like the luge, the skeleton sled is steered by slight shoulder and knee movements. The event is started by the athlete taking a 30 meter run and hopping on for the ride face first, just inches off the ice.</p>

<div id="asset-14258859" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_right"><span class="adv-photo-large"><img src="/static/common/img/blank.gif" class="lazy adv-photo" data-original="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/14258859-large.jpg" alt="Sochi Olympics Bobsleigh M.JPG" /><span class="photo-data"><span class="caption">The USA-2 sled from the United States piloted by Nick Cunningham, takes a turn during a training run for the two-man bobsled at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. </span><span class="byline">AP Photo/Michael Sohn)</span></span></span> </div>

<p><strong>BOBSLED</strong> It's basically an on-ice, sprint car -- without a motor. After a sprinting start, competitors hop inside for the ride. Bobsled is the only one of the three sliding sports that is exclusively a team sport, with two- and four-man teams.</p>

<p>While lugers and skeleton competitors control their sled by angling their bodies in different ways, the bobsled has a steering mechanism (ropes underneath the front shell connected to the front runners) which are handled by the driver in front.<br />.</p>

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