The two names seem to be interchangeable.
One source indicates that "sled" is preferred in the U.S. and Canada.
NBC goes with "sled," while the Vancouver Organizing Committee lists it as "sleigh."
About the sport
According to Vancouver2010.com:
"The three Olympic sliding sports are bobsleigh, skeleton and luge. All three grew out of the practice of using a sled or toboggan -- a light, narrow wooden platform on runners -- to slide on snow or ice. In winter, using a sled to travel and have fun dates back some 700 years.
The idea of racing sleds down a steep and twisting track dates back about 150 years, to the mid-19th century, when British tourists began tobogganing on the snowbound roads of the Alps.
The four-man bobsleigh was on the program of the first Olympic Winter Games in 1924, in Chamonix, France. The two-man bobsleigh event joined the Olympic Games program in 1932. Women began competing in bobsleigh for the first time in 2002, at the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games. "
About the race
According to Vancouver2010.com:
"Today's bobsleigh is built to be fast and aerodynamic, with a rounded fiberglass nose and four highly polished steel runners. To start, the racers push off as fast as they can for approximately 50 meters, then jump into the bobsleigh for a seated descent down the track. The driver steers down the track, while, at the end of the run, the brakeman stops the sled.
There are three Olympic bobsleigh events: the men compete in two-and four-man bobsleigh and women in a two-person format.
In all Olympic Games events, four heats are held over two days, with medals being awarded to the team with the lowest combined time, measured to 0.01 of a second."
How to do it
According to ehow.com:
Step 1 -- Line your team up. Bobsleighs are designed to carry teams of either two or four people with the person in front steering the sleigh and those in back controlling the brakes. To get started, line your team up alongside the bobsled with the driver in front on the left and the other members behind him/her spaced evenly on either side.
Step 2 -- Get a good push start. The push start is one of the most crucial stages of the run. Once all of the crew are lined up along the sleigh, they begin sprinting, pushing the bobsleigh as quickly as possible. The driver is the first to jump in, in order to get control of the sleigh quickly, and the brakemen jump in next.
Step 3 -- Steer together. The primary responsibility for steering rests with the driver. The driver uses a system of ropes to change the angle of the front runners, which then turn the sleigh. However, the brakemen and other crew need to steer with the driver by leaning into the turns. This help maintain the sleigh's speed while steering the sleigh accurately.
Step 4 -- Use the brakes as needed. Since bobsleigh is a sport that has speed as its main goal, the brakes need to be used sparingly. So, use of the breaks should not be impromptu but part of a carefully constructed plan of attack for the particular track. Map out your braking zones, and then let the brakeman do the job of controlling the sleigh's speed.
Learn more
To learn more about the sport, check out the U.S. Bobsled & Skeleton Federation.
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