The Two-Man Bobsled Event

The sport of bobsledding is competed on an icy run that is quite narrow, is circular - even tubular, and is on a winding path. The sleds the two man teams use are approximately eight feet long. The men begin the race pushing the sled then the first man, jumps into the sled. He will steer the sled for the length of the run. The second man, jumps into the sled once the pilot has settled in. The second man will ride the entire race bent over looking at the seat of the sled. He does this to be aerodynamic so he will not impede the sled's speed. Once he has pushed the sled at the beginning of the race, he is there to weigh the sled down.

There are three USA teams vying for the gold. They each made their first two runs Saturday and will continue racing for the gold tomorrow. Unfortunately, the second run of Team 2 - John Napier and Lewis Livingston, and Team 3 - Mike Kohn and Nick Cunningham, were not televised.

1. For the first run, Steve Holcum and Kurt Tomasevitch showed great intensity and focus warming up and envisioning the run. Once they were on the track they were doing well until the backend of the sled almost caused the team to flip. It had slid on the backside of a curve.

In their second run, nothing could have penetrated the intensity the team displayed. Getting off to a good start, they were quick getting on the track and in the sled. They were riding fantastic and centered along the course. Their speed came in the second half of the course.

2. The second team John Napier and Lewis Livingston started rather slowly but made a fairly clean run. Speed was their problem; they appeared to be holding back. They looked like they were making a cautious first run.

3. As Mike Kohn and Nick Cunningham take their run they went through some of the corners too high, cutting into the other side and bouncing off of it. Overcompensation on the course was their downfall. The lack of control over the sled caused them to lose time.