Bobsleigh, luge and skeleton
Bobsleigh, luge and skeleton are the sliding sports, raced down an iced track against the clock. In bobsleigh a crew pushes its sled, jumps in and races down a track with steep banked curves while the seated pilot steers; the race is two or four heats and the lowest total time wins. In luge the athlete lies back feet first and steers with the legs and shoulders, each run timed to a thousandth of a second. In skeleton the athlete dives onto a small sled head first and lies on their stomach.
New to bobsleigh, luge and skeleton? Start here
Which to watch first, and how long
Start with Bobsleigh. A crew, a push start and one clock: easy to follow run by run.
- Bobsleigh
- Two or four timed heats; the lowest total time wins
- Luge
- Timed runs to a thousandth of a second; the lowest total wins
- Skeleton
- Timed runs, head first; the lowest total wins
Lengths are from the rule book.
The big events, and why they matter
- 1Winter Olympic Games (sliding sports)The title each sliding sport is measured by.Every 4 years · Holder: Germany won the four-man; Germany 3 golds, Italy 2; Men's: Matt Weston · Women's: Janine Flock
- 2IBSF World ChampionshipsThe world title in bobsleigh and skeleton.Yearly, except Olympic years (Lillehammer 2027, St Moritz 2028) · Holder: Germany won the four-man
- 3FIL World Luge ChampionshipsLuge's world title.Yearly, except Olympic years (Whistler 2025, Innsbruck-Igls 2027) · Holder: Germany 5 of the 7 golds, Austria the other 2
India
- Luge at the Olympic Games: No medal.
- FIL World Luge Championships: No medal. The register flags India as competing in luge
Countries to know
India and the nations that have done best, biggest titles first.
- GermanyIBSF World Championships (bobsleigh and skeleton): 87 golds, 62 silvers, 52 bronzes (latest 2025); FIL World Luge Championships: 88 golds, 71 silvers, 41 bronzes (latest 2025)
- East GermanyLuge at the Olympic Games: 13 golds, 8 silvers, 8 bronzes (latest 1988); FIL World Luge Championships: 35 golds, 27 silvers, 23 bronzes (latest 1990)
- SwitzerlandBobsleigh at the Olympic Games: 10 golds, 10 silvers, 12 bronzes (latest 2026); IBSF World Championships (bobsleigh and skeleton): 39 golds, 35 silvers, 35 bronzes (latest 2023)
- ItalyIBSF World Championships (bobsleigh and skeleton): 18 golds, 19 silvers, 7 bronzes (latest 2023); FIL World Luge Championships: 17 golds, 18 silvers, 33 bronzes (latest 2024)
- AustriaLuge at the Olympic Games: 6 golds, 13 silvers, 10 bronzes (latest 2026); FIL World Luge Championships: 32 golds, 39 silvers, 47 bronzes (latest 2025)
Who runs it
| Rules made by | International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), International Rules Bobsleigh and International Rules Skeleton, September 2026; International Luge Federation (FIL), International Luge Regulations, 2026 edition |
| International federation | IBSF (bobsleigh and skeleton) and FIL (luge) |
| In India | Luge: the Luge Federation of India; old FIL news items name the federation "IALA". No Indian body was found for bobsleigh or skeleton. The Winter Games Federation of India lost government recognition in 2018 |
Where and when it is played
On an artificial iced track. The big events: the Winter Olympic Games every four years, the IBSF World Championships (bobsleigh and skeleton) and the FIL World Luge Championships, each every year except Olympic years.