Bobsleigh is the Winter Olympic sport featuring a two-person sled with a dedicated braking system.
In the two-person event, the pilot steers from the front while the brakeman sits behind and operates the brake lever after the sled crosses the finish line. The team first accelerates the sled by pushing it, then climbs aboard for a timed run down a narrow, twisting, banked ice track. The winning crew is the one with the fastest combined time over several runs.
Bobsleigh began as a recreational sport in late-19th-century St. Moritz, Switzerland, where wealthy visitors adapted sleds for racing. The four-man event appeared at the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix in 1924; the two-man event was added at Lake Placid in 1932. Women's two-person bobsleigh debuted at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.
Bobsleigh is often confused with luge and skeleton. Luge athletes ride feet first and steer by shifting their bodies, while skeleton athletes ride face first. Bobsleigh teams instead sit inside an enclosed, steerable sled.