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SPORTS___________

Vonetta Flowers, from Birmingham on The USA Women's Bobsleigh Team

Bobsleigh racing was developed in search of the ultimate thrill by the 19th century.

Considered the world's first sliding sport, skeleton originated in the Swiss town of St. Moritz in the late 1800s. The first competition was held in 1884. Riders raced down the road from St. Moritz to Celerina, where the winner received a bottle of champagne. It wasn't until 1887 that riders began competing in the prone position used today. The sport took its name in 1892, when a new sled made mostly of metal was introduced. People thought it looked like a skeleton.

The sport's governing body, the Federation Internationale de Bobsleigh et Tobagganing (FIBT), was founded in 1923. This competition has been part of the official programme since the 1st Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix Mont Blanc in 1924.

Today, two or four men/women teams compete. At the start all team members push together to achieve maximum speed. Then, everyone leaps in the sled with
the pilot at the controls, choosing the fastest trajectory into the curves and down the straights at breathtaking speeds. Four heats determine the winners, hurtling over the ice at more than 130 kilometres per hour.

The women's bobsleigh competition for the 2006 Olympics starts on February 18 and includes Vonetta Flowers, from Birmingham on the USA team.