A winter Olympic sport in which competitors race head-first on their stomach down a refrigerated ice track on a small steel sled.
Origin and rules
Skeleton was born in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in the 1880s, when adventurous tourists adapted Cresta Run sleds for head-first descents. The athlete’s body, lying prone on a steel sled, gave the sport its name.
How it plays
Sliders sprint up to 30 metres and dive onto their sled. They steer by subtle shoulder and knee movements, reaching speeds above 130 kilometres per hour. Olympic events include men’s and women’s singles, with four runs across two days.
Competition
The IBSF Skeleton World Cup and the World Championships run each winter. Skeleton was on the Olympic programme in 1928 and 1948 in St. Moritz, then dropped and reinstated permanently at Salt Lake City 2002. Great Britain, Germany, and Latvia are leading nations.
Find more sports by letter
Skeleton starts with S and ends with N. Browse other sports along the same letter.
Sports that contain a letter from "Skeleton":