The three Olympic sliding sports of bobsleigh, skeleton and luge grew from the practice of using a sled or toboggan — a light, narrow wooden platform on runners — to travel on snow or ice. This winter tradition dates back 700 years.
The idea of racing sleds down a steep and twisting track dates back to the mid-19th century, when British tourists started tobogganing on the snowbound roads of the Swiss 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 Winter Games roster in 1932 at Lake Placid. It wasn't until the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City that women competed in Olympic bobsleigh for the first time.
Men's and women's luge made its Olympic debut at the Innsbruck 1964 Games. Men's skeleton was first contested at the St. Moritz1928 and 1948 Olympic Winter Games. Skeleton then re-appeared as a permanent Olympic sport for both men and women at the Salt Lake City 2002 Games
Competition events include: