The Paper's reporter Pu Yaolei
【Editor's Note】
The Beijing Winter Olympics have entered the final 30-day countdown, and the Chinese Olympic athletes have set off in full gear, waiting for the decisive victory.
So how much do you know about the athletics of the Winter Olympics? On this occasion, the surging news launched the "Winter Olympics, do you know" column, the panorama brings the winter Olympic project science analysis, to help you easily understand the ice and snow doorway.
Steel frame snowmobile, the contestant is lying on his stomach.
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, bobsleigh is definitely one of the fastest and most exciting events.
On long tracks, athletes ride bobsleighs or sleighs, so it's no wonder the event is often referred to as the "F1" race at the Winter Olympics.
Sledding, snowmobile, steel frame snowmobile these three events are very similar, using the same track, from the beginning to the end, the skating tools ride look more similar, athletes wear more similar, so many people can not distinguish these three events.
We can make you understand in a second with one sentence - sleigh: lying down, snowmobile: sitting, steel frame snowmobile: lying on your stomach.
Project Introduction
When it comes to the "speed responsibility" on the Winter Olympics, it is not the bobsleigh project. In particular, the fastest four-person snowmobile event, which can approach 140 kilometers per hour or even up to 160 kilometers per hour, can be called the "F1" in ice and snow sports.
The three sports of bobsleigh, sled and steel frame snowmobile can be clearly distinguished from the equipment used and the way of playing.
China Snow Racing Team.
Snowmobile:
As the name suggests, the snowmobile is closer to the appearance of the "car", the body is made of steel, glass fiber, carbon fiber and other materials, there are two sets of independent sliding steel blades at the bottom, the helmsman can drive the snowmobile through the pulley system controlled by the two handles in the car, and the rear is also equipped with brakes. After accelerating in the starting cart, the athlete jumps into the snowmobile and heads towards the finish line.
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, the snowmobile event will produce four gold medals for men's four and two, and women's singles and doubles.
In a bobsleigh race, the players are lying down.
sled:
In contrast, the equipment of the sled is much "simple", only a crowbar body for the athlete to sit or lie down, and there is no equipment such as steering rudder or brake after starting, and the athlete controls the direction of taxiing through leg and body strength.
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, the bobsleigh event set up a total of 4 gold medals in the men's and women's single, double and team relays.
Steel frame ski car:
The equipment of the steel frame snowmobile is similar to the sled, except that the athlete is not lying down, but lying head forward on the car, and the body also has no steering and braking devices, but the front and rear are equipped with buffers, and the middle is equipped with handles for the athlete to use when the cart is set off, which is also conducive to the athlete to stabilize the body in the body.
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, there will be a gold medal for men and women in this event.
Contest Rules
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, the three sports of bobsleigh, bobsleigh and steel frame bobsleigh will jointly use the National Bobsleigh Center Track in Yanqing, and the steel frame bobsled will share a starting point with the bobsleigh.
According to official rules, both the track length of the bobsleigh and the steel frame bobsleigh is 1200 meters to 1650 meters, and the drop is between 100 meters and 150 meters. The length of the bobsleigh track is 1000 meters to 1350 meters for men and 800 meters to 1200 meters for women, and the drop is also between 100 meters and 150 meters.
Since all three events require gravity as a sliding force, both equipment and athlete weight are key factors affecting the performance of the competition. At the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway, there were cases in which the German snow team sent four "heavyweight" players with a total weight of 454 kg to compete and won the championship. After that, the project decided to impose a weight limit.
Each sub-event in each event has its own weight cap, beyond which the upper limit will be disqualified, and for players and teams that have not yet reached the maximum weight limit, it is also allowed to increase the counterweight under the premise of ensuring safety.
In terms of starting, both the snowmobile and the steel frame snowmobile are assisted by pushing the cart first, and then entering or lying on the body of the car, while the sled needs to be started by sitting on the crowbar, first pulling the track handle by hand, and then accelerating by "paddling the ice" with both hands.
At the same time, bobsleigh is the only one in the three events to feature a relay race. In relay races, athletes need to sit up and pat the relay skittle above the finish line while passing through the finish line in order to open the starting baffle at the starting point for the next departing teammate.
Historical origins
Among the bobsleighs, bobsleighs and steel-framed snowmobiles, the snowmobile is arguably the oldest "elder" event of the Winter Olympics, which has been included in the competition since its origins in Switzerland at the end of the 19th century and the first Winter Olympics in 1924.
The origin of sleds is actually earlier than that of bobsleighs, dating back to the 16th century, and the development of modern sleds began in the 19th century. The original bobsleigh was actually made of bobsleigh splicing and protective shells. The first international bobsleigh event was held in Davos in 1883, but at the Winter Olympics, bobsleigh did not make its Winter Olympic debut until 1964.
The origin and development of the steel frame bobsleigh project is also inseparable from the beginning and the sport of bobsleigh. In 1892, the Englishman Child used a new sled made mainly of metal materials, which was later named a steel frame bobsleigh and gradually developed into a special project.
However, due to its thrilling excitement, the Winter Olympic journey of the steel-framed snowmobile encountered frequent twists and turns, initially only appearing in the 1928 and 1948 Winter Olympics, and then not appearing again at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City until the 2002 Winter Olympics and stabilizing.
Bobsleigh racing is a dangerous sport, with fatalities occurring during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, when Georgian bobsledge player No. Kumari Tashweli accidentally flew off the track during training and crashed into an iron pillar next to the track.
Therefore, in addition to wearing protective devices such as helmets, athletes also need to precisely control their bodies to ensure their own safety.
Chinese Legion
Limited by the history of the project, venue equipment, professional talents and other reasons, bobsleigh sports have not been carried out in China for a long time, until the successful bid for the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2015, the Chinese snowmobile, bobsleigh and steel frame snowmobile national team was formally established.
At the beginning of its establishment, this team could only go abroad to find a venue for training, because there was no equipment and equipment, it could only rent. However, with the subsequent construction and development, the team has become more and more professional, and the strength has also improved rapidly.
At the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, China's bobsleigh project made a historical breakthrough, appearing on the Winter Olympic track for the first time, and obtained two snowmobile men's double qualifications, a snowmobile men's four-person qualification, and a men's steel frame snowmobile qualification.
In the men's steel frame snowmobile event at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Geng Wenqiang greeted the audience after the competition. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Bai Xuefei
Geng Wenqiang, who won the 13th place in the steel frame snowmobile at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, has attracted much attention. In November 2018, he also won gold medals at the Steel Frame Bobsleigh North American Cup in Whistler, Canada, the first time that the Chinese team won a gold medal in a competition hosted by the International Snowmobile and Steel Frame Snowmobile Alliance.
In addition, athletes such as Yan Wengang and Lin Huiyang have also emerged, and Ying Qing, a cross-sport athlete from Shanghai who has transferred from athletics, is also worthy of attention.
In the 2019-2020 women's single bobsleigh series in Königsee, Germany, Ying Qing won the championship and won the first gold medal in the World Series for Chinese women's single bobsleigh.
At the 2020 German Snowmobile World Championships, Ying Qing and his sister Du Jiani performed steadily, and finally ranked 10th in the women's double, equaling the best result in the history of the Chinese athletes in the World Championships.
Van DuoYao finished 32nd in the Bobsleigh World Cup.
In the 2021-2022 Bobsleigh and Bobsleigh World Cup, Chinese athletes are also constantly making breakthroughs and setting new records in the history of various events.
Although it is not easy for Chinese players to hit medals in the competition with traditional strong teams, Chinese spectators can still expect Chinese athletes to create new milestones when playing at the home of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Editor-in-Charge: Ascendas
Proofreader: Yijia Xu