Bobsleigh

On Saturday and Sunday, the two man bobsleigh events were held. Saturday was the qualifying runs and Sunday was the finals. There are four heats, and the times for each one are added together. Basically whoever has the fastest total time gets the gold medal! I went to the finals on Sunday evening. It was incredible. I had a general admission ticket, which meant I could wander anywhere along the track. The track was 1.4 km long, and it is supposed to be the fastest in the world. There are sixteen turns on the track. The teams start running and pushing their sled. There is no rule on when they have to be in the sled, but they do have to stay with it. It gets going a bit faster than most athletes can run! The Germans set the track record at 153 km/h. You can stand a metre from the track as they go by at that speed, and it is incredible. It is SO fast! I took a couple of videos right next to the track, but they don't really give you an idea of what it is like to be standing there. It was so much fun. There were 23 teams racing in the first heat of the night, which was the third heat for them overall. In the fourth heat, the second of the night, 20 teams raced. The fourth heat was the last. Once that was finished, the times were all added up and the winners were announced. The Germans took both Gold and Silver, while the Russians took Bronze. The best USA team was in 6th place. That night, and the medals ceremony, the German National Anthem was played to honor their Gold Medal. It was so much fun to be there. That was one event I have wanted to go to since I was a kid.