Two toboggans. One plank. Eight questions.
The Bobsleigh History Quiz
Rakes, heavyweight crews, borrowed bolts and unlikely champions. Every answer links to its story in the bobsleigh history.
Bobsleigh
What did bobsleigh’s first improvised sled reportedly use as a brake?
Wilson Smith reportedly joined two skeleton toboggans with a plank and used a garden rake to slow the contraption.
Bobsleigh
Where did the name “bobsleigh” come from?
Early crews believed bobbing in unison made the sled faster. It did not, but the name survived.
Bobsleigh
How old was Billy Fiske when he drove the winning bobsleigh at the 1928 Winter Olympics?
Fiske was sixteen and remains the youngest man to win a Winter Olympic gold medal.
Bobsleigh
Which Summer Olympic sport had Eddie Eagan already won before taking bobsleigh gold?
Eagan won light-heavyweight boxing gold in 1920, then bobsleigh gold in 1932—the only such Summer and Winter double in different sports.
Bobsleigh
What rule followed Germany’s exceptionally heavy 1952 Olympic crew?
The winning sled and crew weighed about 472 kilograms, prompting the federation to impose a combined weight limit.
Bobsleigh
What did Eugenio Monti lend his British rivals at Innsbruck in 1964?
Monti sent the matching bolt from his own sled to Tony Nash and Robin Dixon, who went on to win gold.
Bobsleigh
What was Jamaican driver Dudley Stokes’s profession when the 1988 team was formed?
The founders recruited from the army, where Captain Dudley Stokes served as a helicopter pilot.
Bobsleigh
What first did brakewoman Vonetta Flowers achieve in 2002?
Flowers and driver Jill Bakken won the first women’s Olympic bobsleigh event, making Flowers the first Black Winter Olympic champion.
Finished