A sport that first started to grab national attention with the release of the movie Cool Runnings which featured a Jamaican bobsled team which was released in 1993. Bobsled has become an institution in the Winter Olympics and one of the most to watch in the games. Bobsled is a simple sport where teams of two or four start at the top of a track, push a toboggan to get started, then use teamwork and communication to help steer the toboggan and get the fastest score possible with the fastest score winning the competition.
The two-person event for the first time in several years could finally see a member of the stars and stripes on top of the podium with the team Kaillie Humphries and Lolo Jones placing first in the world championships. They beat a heavily favored German squad lead by Kim Kalicki and Ann-Christian Strack, who are hoping to continue Germany’s dominance in the event.
Although bobsled started in Switzerland it has been a German-dominated sport with Germany winning the most gold medals with 13 since the bobsled event was introduced into the world of the Olympics. Germany holds not only hold the most gold medals in the event but also the best bobsleigh athlete of all-time in Bogdan Musiol and the two most gold dominant athletes in Kevin Kuske and André Lange who have each won four gold in the event.
IThe Beijing Olympics look for the Germans to continue their domination in the event with Mariama Jamanka and Lisa Buckwitz, who the gold medal in Pyeongchang but Jamanka finished sixth in the world championships in 2021. Looking to make a splash in the Olympic games are the American powerhouses lead by Kallie Humphries who won the 2021 World Championships with American breaker Lolo Jones. Humphries is looking to claim her third Olympic gold in Vancouver and Sochi. However, the Americans are deep this coming Olympic games with Americans Elana Meyers Taylor and Sylvia Hoffman, Meyers Taylor is a three-time Olympian and won Silver in Pyeongchang bring even more experience to the USA Bobsled team.
The men’s side is dominated by Germans with Francesco Friedrich who pilots not only the two-man bobsled but also the four-man bobsled, he has seven world championships under his belt. Look for the Canadians to also make a push for the top of the podium who tied with Friedrich and his partner in 2018 securing a gold medal in the event.
Beijing is also hosting a new event the monobob where the United States has three favorites (Kaillie Humphries, Nicole Vogt, and Elana Meyers Taylor) as well as the Germany’s Stephine Schneider all of which will be looking to take home the event’s first gold medal. With a sport that has lasted as long as bobsled has, it is still growing and evolving giving new opportunities for people to succeed and achieve their Olympic goals of pushing down the line and winning a gold medal.