With colorful, rocket-shaped vehicles, bobsledding looks like a theme park thrill ride. Bobsleds are built for serious speed, though. Their riders must work hard as a team while racing along at 60-90 miles per hour down an icy chute.

The Rules of the Game
A bobsled run begins with a "start dash." That's when a team pushes its sled and then jumps into it as it speeds along. Once inside, the driver steers through the curves at top speed, avoiding the walls of the chute. The other athletes must keep their heads down to form a tight, streamlined surface. A brake is used to stop the sled once it passes the finish line.

The Olympic bobsled competition consists of three events. They involve two-man, four-man and women's bobsled teams. In men's Olympic bobsledding, competitors are timed on how fast they complete four runs over two days. In the women's competition, athletes must complete two runs on one day. In each event, the times are combined and the fastest time wins. Years of hard work and training can fly by very quickly. Bobsledders know that one hundredth of a second can mean the difference between victory and defeat.

By Tracy Rodrigues