By Alessio Caprodossi
Publication Date: 2026-02-15 11:00:00
Often Olympic bobsledding is referred to as the “Formula 1 of ice”. The courses are more than 1.5 kilometers (nearly a mile) long and athletes often race down them at speeds of nearly 145 kilometers per hour (90 miles per hour). Bobsledders – whether in teams of four, two or solo – are often exposed to gravity of more than 5 g. At the 2026 Winter Games in Milano Cortina they are using technology that aims to make every phase of the race, from the initial push through technical driving to final braking, a little more precise than in previous Games.
Men’s four-man bobsleigh made its Olympic debut in 1924 in Chamonix, France; The women’s two-man bobsleigh didn’t come to the Games until 2002 in Salt Lake City. The women’s monobob came onto the market in 2022. While the first bobsleighs were made of wood, the sport has been synonymous with steel for years, although in recent decades it has been replaced by carbon fiber, which provides greater lightness and strength.
Every new technological development…