Races
Individual runs down the course, or "heats", begin from a standing start, with the crew pushing the sled for up to 50 meters before boarding; though the pilot does not steer, grooves in the ice make steering unnecessary until the sled leaves the starting area. While poor form during the initial can lose a team the heat, it is otherwise rarely, if ever, decisive. Over the rest of the course, a sleigh's speed depends on its weight, aerodynamics, runners, the condition of the ice, and the skill of the driver.
Race times are recorded in hundredths of seconds, so even seemingly minor errors- especially those at the beginning, which affect the remainder of the heat- can have a measurable impact on the final race standings.
The men's and women's standings for normal races are calculated over the aggregate of two runs or heats. At the Olympic Winter Games and World Championships, all competitions (for both men and women) consist of four heats.
Read more about this topic: Bobsleigh
Famous quotes containing the word races:
“For the most part we stupidly confound one man with another. The dull distinguish only races or nations, or at most classes, but the wise man, individuals.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“There are only two races on this planet—the intelligent and the stupid.”
—John Fowles (b. 1926)
“While the white man keeps the impetus of his own proud, onward march, the dark races will yield and serve, perforce. But let the white man once have a misgiving about his own leadership, and the dark races will at once attack him, to pull him down into the old gulfs.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)