The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Mechanics of the bob skeleton and analysis of the variation in performance at the St Moritz World Championship of 2007

Mechanics of the bob skeleton and analysis of the variation in performance at the St Moritz World Championship of 2007
Mechanics of the bob skeleton and analysis of the variation in performance at the St Moritz World Championship of 2007
The skeleton bobsled is a relatively new discipline of winter sports that competes in the winter Olympic Games. It is a sport
with high speeds where fearless determination of the individual slider is required to achieve a winning margin which can be a
100th of a second. Skeleton bobsled requires the athlete to sprint, board a sled (weighing upto 43kg) and slide down a bobsleigh track with their chin just millimetres from the ice at speeds up to 130kmph in a head first position. This paper explores the basic physics that underlie the sport comprising the physics of ice friction, the aerodynamics of the slider, the dynamics of the descent of a curved track, control of direction and position on the track. The rules that govern the sport have a significant impact on the methods whereby performance can be improved and in effect determine the upper limits of achievable speeds. The relative differences in performance between the various competitors are analysed with respect to the published data for the male and female sliders who competed in the 2006/2007 World Championship in St Moritz. It is difficult to identify actual optimum body height and weight but interesting to note that the victors in both the men’s and women’s event were of similar size.
winter sports, sliding sports, olympic games, performance sports
117-126
Springer
Larman, R.
6ef8d0e6-4d4a-4c6a-aab5-7a1e27c74380
Turnock, S.R.
d6442f5c-d9af-4fdb-8406-7c79a92b26ce
Hart, J.
b15a9d15-acba-4c58-8b85-d0e9b3f364b5
Estivalet, Margaret
Brisson, Pierre
Larman, R.
6ef8d0e6-4d4a-4c6a-aab5-7a1e27c74380
Turnock, S.R.
d6442f5c-d9af-4fdb-8406-7c79a92b26ce
Hart, J.
b15a9d15-acba-4c58-8b85-d0e9b3f364b5
Estivalet, Margaret
Brisson, Pierre

Larman, R., Turnock, S.R. and Hart, J. (2008) Mechanics of the bob skeleton and analysis of the variation in performance at the St Moritz World Championship of 2007. In, Estivalet, Margaret and Brisson, Pierre (eds.) The Engineering of Sport 7. Springer, pp. 117-126.

Record type: Book Section

Abstract

The skeleton bobsled is a relatively new discipline of winter sports that competes in the winter Olympic Games. It is a sport
with high speeds where fearless determination of the individual slider is required to achieve a winning margin which can be a
100th of a second. Skeleton bobsled requires the athlete to sprint, board a sled (weighing upto 43kg) and slide down a bobsleigh track with their chin just millimetres from the ice at speeds up to 130kmph in a head first position. This paper explores the basic physics that underlie the sport comprising the physics of ice friction, the aerodynamics of the slider, the dynamics of the descent of a curved track, control of direction and position on the track. The rules that govern the sport have a significant impact on the methods whereby performance can be improved and in effect determine the upper limits of achievable speeds. The relative differences in performance between the various competitors are analysed with respect to the published data for the male and female sliders who competed in the 2006/2007 World Championship in St Moritz. It is difficult to identify actual optimum body height and weight but interesting to note that the victors in both the men’s and women’s event were of similar size.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: June 2008
Keywords: winter sports, sliding sports, olympic games, performance sports
Organisations: Fluid Structure Interactions Group

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 52428
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/52428
PURE UUID: 682f4f30-0e41-4c91-88fd-b73cd8adbc03
ORCID for S.R. Turnock: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-6288-0400

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 26 Jun 2008
Last modified: 12 Dec 2021 02:38

Export record

Contributors

Author: R. Larman
Author: S.R. Turnock ORCID iD
Author: J. Hart
Editor: Margaret Estivalet
Editor: Pierre Brisson

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×