Skeleton at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games will be contested from Feb. 15-17, with medals awarded in two different events.
Sochi in review
Nicknamed the “Russian Rocket,” Aleksandr Tretiyakov thrust to the top of the 2014 Sochi Olympic skeleton standings on his first run and never let off the gas. The cumulative times of four face-first runs down the sliding course is used to determine the Olympic skeleton champion. At the end of each of the four runs, Tretiyakov was on top. There’s nothing quite like sliding on home ice in the Olympics.
Silver would go to Latvia’s Martins Dukurs, his second in two Olympic Games, while bronze would end up in the hands of Team USA’s Matt Antoine. Antoine and his U.S. teammate, Jon Daly, traded the third and fourth spots on the leaderboard twice, but after Daly lost control of his sled in his fourth and final run he dropped well out of medal contention to finish 15th.
Similarly, in the women’s skeleton competition it was Great Britain’s Lizzy Yarnold who jumped out to the early lead and never let it go. Team USA’s Noelle Pikus-Pace, who stated a medal of any color was as “good as gold,” would slip past Russia’s Elena Nikitina after her second run, holding off the Russian through heats three and four to win silver. Nikitina would go on to take home the bronze for the host nation.
Competition format
Men and women compete in separate events in a discipline which requires athletes to hurl themselves head first down an icy chute. Skeleton sleds can reach speeds of around 80 mph as athletes fight intense G-forces created by the serpentine course to keep their heads up and their eyes on the track.
- Men
- Women
Venue
Skeleton events will be held at the Alpensia Sliding Centre during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.
Athletes to watch
Men
Axel Jungk, Germany
Martins Dukurs, Latvia Tomass Dukurs, Latvia
Alexander Tretiakov, Russia
Matthew Antoine, United States
Women Tina Hermann, Germany Jacqueline Loelling, Germany Elena Nikitina, Russia
Marina Gilardoni, Switzerland Anne O’Shea, United States Katie Uhlaender, United States