Skeleton


 * Skeleton**

Skeleton is one of the sports being held on the Winter Olympics. This sport is one in which the individual must ride on a small sled down a frozen track while lying on your stomach and facing forward. Since the sled cannot stop by itself, you would have to chnge the direction where the sled is going by moving your body.

Descriptions of this sport can be traced from the 16th-century. But, it wasn't until the mid-19th century when this sport was first raced. The first time the Skeleton sport was raced, it was raced in snowbound roads in the Alps. Afterwards, the first tobogganwas built in Davos in 1882 by British and American holidaymakers. The first time this sport was raced in the Olympics was in 1928.

The Skeleton's origin can be found in the city of St. Moritz, a Swiss resort town. It is in this town where this sport became famous because of the Cresta Run.

There are several important terms for this sport. Below are some of those terms: __**hairpin bend**__- a very tigt corner forcing the skeleton into a half turn
 * __speed__**- speeds vary from 120km/h and 135km/h
 * __omega__**- a cruve which is shaped like the Greek letter of the alphabet

The three most competitive countries in 2006 for this sport were Canada, Switzerland, and Great Britain. Canada received 1 gold medal, 1 silver medal, and 1 bronze medal. Switzerland received 1 gold medal and 1 bronze medal. Great Britain received 1 silver medal.

Websites used: [] [] [] A picture of someone in a race of Skeleton in the olympics. The picture to the right is showing a diagram of how the sled is laid out.