Advanced bobsleigh design. Part 1: Body protection, injury prevention and performance improvement

Abstract

Bobsleigh is one of the most popular Olympic winter sports where technology and engineering play a major role. The technological advances in the sport over the last two decades have been notable. However, the introduction of the female bobsleigh competition highlighted some noticeable shortcomings in the current sled design. The present work proposes ergonomic modifications to the existing bobsleigh design, with specific focus on women, aiming to address these issues by simultaneously reducing the injury rate and delivering improved performance. Two main aspects are discussed: bobsleigh interior design, i.e. the introduction of internal padding, footrests, etc., and modifications to the push handles. It is shown that such modifications would not cause any deterioration in the performance but could theoretically bring some performance benefits such as improved driving stability and better aerodynamics owing to the reduced size of the cavity. The possibility of rule alterations concerning the size and weight of sleds is briefly discussed.