Extractions: Although the sled has been around for centuries as a mode of transportation, the sport of bobsleigh didn't begin until the late 19th century when the Swiss attached a steering mechanism to a toboggan. In 1897, the world's first bobsleigh club was founded in St. Moritz, Switzerland, spurring the growth of the sport in winter resorts throughout Europe. By 1914, bobsled races were taking place on a wide variety of natural ice courses. The first racing sleds were made of wood but were soon replaced by steel sleds that came to be known as bobsleds, so named because of the way crews bobbed back and forth to increase their speed on the straightaways. A two-man event was added at the 1932 Olympics in Lake Placid, U.S.A., a format that has remained to the present. Bobsled racing began largely as an activity for the rich and adventurous who gathered at alpine resorts for weekends of competition and partying. There was no such thing as training. Competitors simply bought or rented a sled, started out as a rider and then took the wheel
1932 Olympics as actual races (not timed heats) for the first time in olympic history.Billy Fiske, who had driven the 5man US bobsled to a gold medal at St. Moritz http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0300758.html
Extractions: Reference Desk Atlas Almanacs Dictionary Encyclopedia ... Winter Olympics Through The Years National medal standings are not recognized by the IOC. The unofficial point totals are based on 3 points for a gold medal, 2 for a silver and 1 for a bronze. Total medals are in parentheses. Gold Silver Bronze Points USA (12) Norway (10) Canada (7) Sweden (3) Finland (3) Number of individual medals won on the left; gold, silver and bronze breakdown to the right. No Sport G-S-B Irving Jaffee, USA Sp. Skate Jack Shea, USA Sp. Skate Veli Saarinen, FIN X-country Alex Hurd, CAN Sp. Skate William Logan, CAN Sp. Skate Event Time 2-Man 4-Man USA (Billy Fiske, Eddie Eagan, Clifford Gray, Jay O'Brien) Event Points Men Women Sonja Henie, NOR Pairs Gm W-L-T Pts GF GA Canada USA Germany Poland Note: Event Time Veli Saarinen, FIN Event Points Birger Rudd, NOR
ResortQuest Park City Utah Olympic Park The Alf Engen Ski Museum was built to preserve the rich history of skiing The Utah olympic Park is offering summer bobsled rides to the general public http://www.resortquestparkcity.com/parkcity/aboutOurTown/attractions/utahOlympic
Extractions: window.defaultStatus=document.title; Located just 6 miles from downtown Park City, with free shuttle service available, the Utah Olympic Park offers a year-round, state-of-the-art park for national and international competitions. It serves as a year-round training ground for development and high-performance athletes in luge, bobsled, skeleton, and aerials. Visitors are treated to a guided tour of the park, athlete training sessions, 70 mile-per-hour bobsled rides in summer and winter, an Olympic photo gallery, an interactive museum with the history of skiing in Utah, freestyle aerial and ski jumping shows on summer weekends and a variety of camps for skiers and snowboarders of all ages. The Alf Engen Ski Museum was built to preserve the rich history of skiing in the Intermountain region by providing a world-class facility, which highlights the many contributions made in ski area development, athletic competition, snow safety, ski innovation and ski teaching methods. The calendar of events is also booked solid with a variety of competitions for spectators. Since the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, the Utah Olympic Park has hosted seven World Cup events in bobsled, skeleton, luge, ski jumping and nordic combined. The 2005 Luge World Championships are also slated for the Utah Olympic Park on Feb. 18-19, 2005. There are also numerous national, junior and club events in ski jumping, nordic combined, sliding sports and freestyle aerials. From beginners to young and aspiring athletes, the Utah Olympic Park conducts camps in freestyle aerials and ski jumping each summer.
New Olympic Clocks Go For The Gold luge by just two millisecondsthe new closest finish in olympic history. olympic sled events-bobsled, luge and now skeleton-have for decades been http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/02/02/wo_leo022002.asp?p=1
ESPN.com - Fiske Was An American And Bristish Hero Fiske was the driver of the fourman bobsled, an olympic veteran who The 1932four-man bobsled team was one of the most interesting in olympic history. http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/winter02/gen/feature?id=1307970
SacObserver.com [SPORTS] Black Female Trailblazers And Champions After training for nearly three years in the bobsled, Flowers became the firstAfrican American, The rest is history, olympic history that is. http://www.sacobserver.com/sports/022105/black_female_athletes.shtml
Extractions: Black Female Trailblazers and Champions By Stephanie Iovieno East Meadow, NY (BASN) - Trailblazers. Pioneers. Leaders. Breaking down barriers of race and gender, these 10 Black female sports figures redefined the role of women in sports and laid the foundation for future generations. In honor of Black History Month, we celebrate their groundbreaking achievements and honor their contributions. Alice Coachman: Pioneer Athlete A member of 22 different USA Basketball teams, Teresa Edwards enjoyed the greatest success on the biggest stage at the Olympic Games. Edwards is the first and only American basketball player, male or female, to compete in five Olympic Games. The three-time USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year has an unprecedented Olympic record of 158-3. And even though she was a rookie in the WNBA at age 38, Edwards has played with the energy of a teenager. With four Olympic gold medals and more than 20 years of basketball experience as a player and coach with the defunct American Basketball League, Edwards has contributed as a leader on and off the court.
Outlook Conference you to the top of the world s highest altitude ski jumps to see the world sfastest bobsled, luge and skeleton track where olympic history was made. http://www.outlookconference.com/agTuesday.html
Extractions: Patrick Morley helps people think more deeply about their lives. What do people want? What do they need? And what keeps them from getting it? More importantly, how can we find a success that really matters? Morley says, "Encouragement is the food of the heart, and every heart is a hungry heart." In this message Morley will encourage and inspire you to lead a more balanced life. You will leave with concrete, practical ideas to leave the world a better place. Wal-Mart will be even more successful by 2010. While the world waits for Wal-Mart to collapse under its own weight, Wal-Mart waits for no one. Demonstrating a remarkable capapcity to manage the retail lifecycle, Wal-Mart keeps rolling on. If you thought Wal-Mart was an impetus for change during the past five years, watch out for the next five! Wal-Mart's strategy of innovation is not about creating incremental change. It is about creating new businesses that disrupt traditional businesses. How big can Wal-Mart get? What categories will it dominate? What moves must competitors and suppliers make to survive? This session provides the answers.
Extractions: Ancient meets modern as the Olympic Games gear up every four years to showcase the world's best athletes in both Winter and Summer events. The links, below, will take you to Olympic mega sites that cover the whole spectacular from beginning to end... enhanced by cutting-edge Internet coverage, photos, video clips, athlete bio's, team profiles, plus interactive exhibits on Olympic Games history, and a bit of Olympic trivia, facts, figures and feature stories In the U.S., watch for complete television coverage on NBC and in the UK on BBC Winter 2006 Olympic Sports Guide
Winter Olympics - Bobsleigh be competing in the bobsleigh event for the first time in olympic history . To be a bobsleigher you need a helmet, a bobsled, suit, and a number on http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/olympics/bobsleigh.htm
Extractions: Do you want to learn about one of the BEST sports in the winter Olympics? If your answer was yes then you have to read this. Imagine yourself bobsledding. You're at the starting line waiting for the buzzer to go off. The crowd is screaming in your ear. Bobsledding is a winter sport. Bobsleighing started in Switzerland in the late 1800s. It is one of the original Winter Olympic sports. A four-man event was included in the very first Winter Olympics in 1924. In 1932, a two-man event was added. Women will be competing in the bobsleigh event for the first time in Olympic history. The women's event will be a two-woman event. Bobsleighs have runners, a main hull, a frame, and a front and rear axle. The hull is made of fiberglass and the runners are made of steel. It can go 90 miles per hour. The events consist of two runs both done on the same day. The winner is the sled team with the lowest time. To be a bobsleigher you need a helmet, a bobsled, suit, and a number on the car. The start for sleds is very important. The three men in the back push the sled to get it started, after the sled is on its way they jump in. They only have 60 seconds to get started. Steering is also important. The driver of the sled steers by gently pulling on two pieces of string that are connected to a steering bolt that steers the sled. In the sled you will need a brake to stop you when get to the finish line. Each team is from a different country like Jamaica or Canada. There was a movie made about the Jamaican bobsled team a few years ago. They were very famous for a while. Prince Albert of Monaco will be competing in the 2002 Winter Olympics. But when he is in the sled, on the course he will be known as just Albert Grimaldi, driver of Monaco.
February 7 Birthdays In History February 7, 1971 Andrew Currey, Australian javelin thrower 1996 olympics 1951 Manfred Schumann, German FR, bobsled, olympicsilver/bronze-1976 http://www.brainyhistory.com/daysbirth/birth_february_7.html
Burlington Free Press - Living Outside The skeleton races start at noon today; the bobsled races begin Saturday. World premiere, Lake Placid An olympic history, 730 pm, Lake Placid Center http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/specialnews/outside/270.htm
Untitled Document Vonetta Flowers olympic gold medalist in the bobsled Vonetta Flowers alwaysdreamed of winning an The rest is history - olympic history that is. http://www.blackwomeninsport.org/home.html
Extractions: Trailblazers. Pioneers. Leaders. Breaking down barriers of race and gender, these 10 black female sports figures redefined the role of women in sports and laid the foundation for future generations. In honor of Black History Month, we celebrate their groundbreaking achievements and honor their contributions. Alice Coachman - Pioneer for black female athletes in all sports Growing up in the segregated South during the 1920s and '30s, Alice Coachman was denied access to public facilities and forced to run barefoot in the streets. With the little opportunity she was given, Coachman took it and ran with it - literally. Overcoming racial segregation, Coachman went on to win 25 AAU track titles and numerous national championships at Tuskegee Institute, mostly in the long jump. However, her greatest achievement came in 1948 in London when she became the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. By breaking the race barrier for women, Coachman opened the door for the future black female track stars, including some of the greats, like Wilma Rudolph, Florence Griffith Joyner and Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Dominique Dawes - Three-time Olympic medalist As a young girl, Women's Sports Foundation President Dominique Dawes spent hours at the gym in order to achieve her dream of winning an Olympic medal. Her hard work paid off - big time. In 1988, she became the first African-American on the U.S. national gymnastics team, and in 1992, the first on the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team. In 1996, Dawes reached another milestone, winning an individual bronze medal in the floor exercises - the first black to earn an individual Olympic medal in women's gymnastics. She earned an Olympic gold medal the same year, as the U.S. women's gymnastics team won the team event in Atlanta. In a career of firsts, Dawes inspired a generation and set the stage for today's black gymnasts.
Extractions: AP PARK CITY, Utah (AP) Jill Bakken and Vonetta Flowers stood behind their bright red bobsled ready to begin their final, furious push to history. In matching bodysuits, they stared out through the visors of their black helmets at the track and pounded each other's fists as if to say, "Let's do it." And they did, flying down the ice chute close to 80 mph to stun the field Tuesday night and win the inaugural women's Olympic bobsled race with a two-run time of 1 minute, 37.76 seconds. No one had really given them a chance. They weren't even supposed to be the best U.S. team. Now they are Olympic champions, and Flowers is the first black athlete ever to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics. "A lot of people saw us as the 'other' team," Flowers said. "We came here to prove people wrong."
Extractions: John Gichigi/Allsport HISTORY Sleds have been used for centuries as a way to travel on snow, but bobsledding didn't emerge as a sport until the late 19th century, when the Swiss attached a steering mechanism to a toboggan. Bobsled races take place on many natural ice courses throughout Europe. The Federation Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT) is founded. The four-man race takes place at the first ever Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix, France. At the Games in St. Mortiz, Switzerland, five men compete on each four-man team for the only time in Olympic history. The two-man event is added at the 1932 Olympics in Lake Placid, NY. American Eddie Eagen becomes the only person to win a gold medal in both the Winter and Summer Olympics (four-man bobsled, light heavyweight boxing). An important rule change limits the total weight of crew and sled, ending the era of the heavyweight bobsledder. The rule helps make the sport a highly athletic event. Early 1990s: Women's bobsledding debuts at events in Europe and North America.
SKELETON - Winter Sports Bring “ICE” Back To NBC The olympic history of the village and its ambiance will enhance the excitementof the US bobsled and Skeleton Federation. Phone, 518523-1842 ext. 106. http://www.usocpressbox.org/usoc/pressbox.nsf/0/7b7c82a74b2b9afa85256f4700718c19
Summer Olympics Summer olympics olympic history Olympians olympic Symbols sports ofthe winter olympics like skiing, hockey, luge, bobsled, and figure skating. http://infozone.imcpl.org/kids_path_olympics_summer.htm
Winter History won the last olympics the US had to settle for one in the twoman bobsled . The US win was perhaps the biggest upset in winter olympic history. http://www.fccps.k12.va.us/gm/webs-2002/gr8-3/hillary/winterhistory.html
Extractions: History of the Winter Olympics The first Winter Olympics were first called the International Winter Sports week and only consisted of five events, nordic skiing, speed skating, figure skating, ice hockey, and bobsledding. The Modern Olympics Founder, Baron Pierre se Coubertin made objections to a winter olympics, however complaints from him would be overridden as the first Olympic Winter Games started in Charminoix, France. The 16-nation field was dominated by the Scandinavian countries. They were expected to win many medals in the winter sports. Norway won 27 of the 43 medals combined which included all the nordic events and four of the five speed skating events. Although the Scandinavians were the heavy favorites for medals AMerican Charles Jewtraw won the first event in the games in 500 meters, a huge upset. Perhaps the most memorable moment was the bronze medal awarded the American ski jumper Anders Haugen. However due to a scoring error he didn't recieve his medal until 1974. The 1928 olympics opened in St. Moritz. The only good thing about these Olympics was that Sonja Henie of Norway won three gold medals and Gillis Grafstrom of Sweden set his third straight victory in the Winter Games. The warm weather of these games destroyed the bobsledding courses and cross-country skiing runs slowing them. The 10,000 meter speed skating race was cancelled due to the slush left on the rink. The 1932 were held in Lake Placid. American speed-skater Irving Jaffee set a record for the 10,000-meter and won gold just to lose it when the event was cancelled because of thawing conditions. There were again five skating races and for the first time in Olympic History they were run as races instead of an ice event.
Kiat.net: Winter Olympic Games St Moritz 1928 In addition, teams in the fourman bobsled event had an option to include a both gold and silver in the only five-man competition in olympic history. http://www.kiat.net/olympics/history/winter/w02stmoritz.html
Extractions: IInd WINTER GAMES February 11 - 19, 1928 Mascot - none 25 countries, 464 athletes (26 women) 5 sports, 13 events Opening - President Edmund Schulthess Torch lit by - none The Swiss got the Games due to Holland backing out Another famous tourist resort, St. Moritz in Switzerland, played host to the second edition of the Winter Games. With the first Olympic Winter Games an enormous success, it was no surprise that the St. Moritz Games attracted an 84 percent increase in the number of participants including a 100% increase of female athletes. The Games started poorly due to extremely mild temperatures caused by the "fohn", the warm wind that sweeps the Swiss mountains from the south. The 1928 Winter Games in St. Moritz marked the first time Germany was allowed to participate in any Olympic competition after World War I; the Soviet Union was still notably absent. The Germans won a disappointing one bronze medal. Bobsledding was in the news at the 1928 Games. A new event, the skeleton sled, was upgraded from a demonstration sport and added to the program. In addition, teams in the four-man bobsled event had an option to include a fifth member. They all took up that option.
Kiat.net: Winter Olympic Games Nagano 1998 Nagano was portrayed as an ancient city rich in oriental history and nativeculture which 2 gold medals were awarded in the TwoMan bobsled. Nagano 1998 http://www.kiat.net/olympics/history/winter/w18nagano.html
Extractions: XVIIIth WINTER GAMES February 7 - 22, 1998 Mascot - Snowlets 72 countries, 2302 athletes (814 women) 7 sports, 68 events Opening - Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko Torch lit by - Midori Ito (figure skating) Candidates: Jaca (ESP), Ostersund (SWE), Salt Lake City, Val d'Aosta (ITA) 15 June 1991 - 97th IOC Session in Birmingham, UK - Nagano was elected to be the host of the XXVIIIth Olympic Winter Games in 1998. Round Nagano Jaca Ostersund Aosta Salt Lake City The East met West in February 1998 as Nagano, Japan played host to 72 nations - 10 of which competed for the first time in an Olympic Winter Games - and regions participating in the final Olympic Games of the 20th century. The country's raw enthusiasm for the games persisted despite a pummeling of snow, rain and more snow and finally even an earthquake which delayed several of the games alpine events. Perhaps the defining event of these games, the strange meteorology of the past two weeks bedeviled organizers and beleaguered athletes, forcing cancellations, reschedulings and general befuddlement all around. And the people came - 1,358,207 of them at competitions and victory ceremonies by Sunday afternoon. Local Olympic organizers expected the total at competitions alone to reach 1,270,000 when everything from Sunday is counted.
