The Complete Guide · Told by an Original Jamaican Bobsledder
Bobsled History: How Bobsleigh Began and Who Invented It
From adapted toboggans on the icy lanes of St. Moritz to the Olympic track at Milano Cortina, this is the complete bobsled history, told by Devon Harris, three-time Olympian and original member of the 1988 Jamaican Bobsled Team.
By Devon Harris
3-Time Winter Olympian (1988, 1992, 1998) · Updated September 2026
Bobsled History in 60 Seconds
Bobsled history begins in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in the 1870s and 1880s, when British and American winter guests at hotelier Caspar Badrutt's resort added steering to toboggans and raced them down the village's icy lanes. The first bobsleigh club was founded in St. Moritz in 1897, the first purpose-built track opened there in 1902, and bobsleigh was part of the very first Winter Olympics at Chamonix, France, in 1924. Today athletes race four-man, two-man, two-woman and women's monobob sleds at speeds above 120 km/h (75 mph).
1870s
Born in St. Moritz, Switzerland
1897
World's first bobsleigh club
1924
Olympic debut in Chamonix, France
157 km/h
Fastest recorded run (97.6 mph)
The basics
What Is Bobsledding?
Bobsledding, also called bobsleigh, is a winter sport in which teams of one, two or four athletes push a sled from a standing start, jump in, and ride it down a narrow, twisting track of ice. The fastest combined time over several runs wins. The pilot steers with ropes connected to the front runners, the brakeman stops the sled after the finish line, and in the four-man sled two crewmen in the middle add power at the start.
A bobsledder needs two very different skills. The first few seconds are a flat-out sprint: the crew pushes a sled that weighs hundreds of kilograms, then loads in without losing speed. The rest of the run is precision. The pilot reads each curve under forces of up to 5 g, where a tiny steering error costs hundredths of a second or tips the sled on its side. That mix of raw power and fine control is why bobsled programs recruit sprinters, football players and other explosive athletes.
Four seats, one sled: every position in a four-man bobsled has a job, from the pilot who steers to the brakeman who delivers the final push.
The origin of bobsleigh
Who Invented the Bobsled?
Short answer
No single person invented the bobsled. The sport was created in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in the 1870s and 1880s by British and American winter guests at hotelier Caspar Badrutt's resort, who added a steering mechanism to toboggans so they could race them. That is why Switzerland is considered the country that invented bobsledding.
Badrutt had a bold idea for filling his hotel in the off season: invite his summer guests back to see the Alps under snow. The visitors soon grew restless and began racing sleds down the steep, narrow lanes of the village, which alarmed the local pedestrians. To keep everyone safe, a dedicated natural-ice run was built near the Cresta valley, and organized sled races began there in 1884.
Over the next decade, riders joined sleds together with a board and fitted a steering system at the front. The heavier, steerable sled carried several passengers and ran far faster than a toboggan. In 1897 riders founded the world's first bobsleigh club in St. Moritz, and when speeds on public roads became too dangerous, the first purpose-built bobsleigh track opened just outside the town in 1902. That is the true starting line of bobsled history.
Did bobsledding start in Albany, New York?
You will sometimes read that bobsledding began in Albany, New York. Americans did race steerable "bob sleds" down city hills in the late 1800s, and the United States later shaped the modern two-man sled. The organized sport, however, with its clubs, rules and first dedicated tracks, traces back to St. Moritz.
The name
Why Is It Called a Bobsled?
The name comes from the way early crews "bobbed" back and forth on the straightaways, believing the movement would make the sled go faster. It did not work, but the name stuck.
In Europe the sport is usually called bobsleigh. In North America it is bobsled or bobsledding. They are the same sport, and the athletes are called bobsledders.
Before the bobsled
From Toboggan to Bobsled: A Short History of Sleds
Sleds are among the oldest transport tools in the world, used for thousands of years to haul loads across snow in northern Europe, Asia and North America. No single person invented the sled. The toboggan, a flat sled with a curled front, was developed by Indigenous peoples of northern North America, and the word itself comes from an Algonquian language.
Settlers and, later, winter tourists adopted the toboggan for fun, and sledding became a craze in the 1800s. In St. Moritz that craze split into two sports: the head-first Cresta Run, which grew into skeleton, and the steerable team sled, which became bobsleigh.
1870 to 2026
Bobsled History Timeline: Key Dates in the Story of Bobsleigh
Here is bobsled history at a glance, from the first sled races in the Swiss Alps to the most recent Winter Olympics.
1870s
Winter guests in St. Moritz, Switzerland, begin racing adapted toboggans through the village.
1884
Organized sled races begin on the natural-ice Cresta Run.
1897
The world's first bobsleigh club is founded in St. Moritz.
1902
The first purpose-built bobsleigh track opens outside St. Moritz.
1923
The international federation (FIBT, today's IBSF) is founded to standardize the rules.
1924
Four-man bobsleigh is raced at the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France.
1928
St. Moritz hosts the Olympics and a one-time five-man bobsleigh event.
1932
Two-man bobsleigh joins the Olympics at Lake Placid, New York, on America's first bobsled track.
1952
A maximum weight limit for crew and sled ends the era of heavyweight teams.
1980s
The Bobsleigh World Cup begins, rewarding consistency across a full season of racing.
1988
Jamaica makes its Olympic bobsled debut in Calgary, Canada.
2002
Women's bobsleigh debuts at the Salt Lake City Olympics.
2015
The FIBT becomes the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF).
2022
Women's monobob, a one-person event, debuts at the Beijing Olympics.
2026
At Milano Cortina, Jamaica races in monobob, two-man and four-man bobsleigh.
Olympic bobsled history
When Did Bobsleigh Become an Olympic Sport?
Short answer
Bobsleigh became an Olympic sport at the first Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix, France, in 1924, so bobsledding has been in the Olympics for more than 100 years. It has been raced at every Winter Games since, except 1960 in Squaw Valley, where organizers chose not to build a track.
Event
Olympic debut
Crew
Four-man
1924, Chamonix
Pilot, two crewmen and a brakeman
Five-man
1928, St. Moritz (only time held)
Five athletes
Two-man
1932, Lake Placid
Pilot and brakeman
Two-woman
2002, Salt Lake City
Pilot and brakewoman
Women's monobob
2022, Beijing
One athlete who pushes, steers and brakes
When did monobob start?
The one-person monobob was first used to introduce young athletes and new nations to the sport. It was raced at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer and became an Olympic medal event for women at Beijing 2022, where every athlete uses the same standardized sled.
Which countries have dominated Olympic bobsleigh?
The United States was the early powerhouse of Olympic bobsled history, winning bobsleigh gold at every Winter Games from 1928 to 1948, helped by American sled innovations. Since then, Switzerland and Germany have led the medal tables, with East Germany becoming a force in the 1970s through a heavy focus on sled design. Canada, Italy and Austria have also produced Olympic champions.
How the sled evolved
Old Bobsleds: From Wooden Toboggans to Carbon Fibre
The bobsled has changed more in 150 years than almost any other piece of sports equipment. Each era of old bobsleds solved the problem of the one before it: more speed, then more control, then more safety.
1870s to 1890s
Wooden toboggans
The first racing sleds were wooden toboggans, sometimes joined together, steered with the feet or a simple rope.
1890s to 1930s
Early steel bobsleds
Heavier steel sleds on four runners carried up to five riders. Speeds climbed so fast that dedicated tracks had to be built.
1930s to 1940s
American innovations
In the United States, brothers Bob and Bill Linney built a two-man sled with a flexible steel plank for faster turns and added side push handles, making the modern running start possible.
1980s to today
Modern racing sleds
Today's sleds combine fibreglass or carbon-fibre shells with steel chassis, are refined in wind tunnels, and must meet strict IBSF rules on size, weight and runners.
The gear
Bobsled Equipment and Specifications
Every sled that races internationally must fit inside tight limits set by the IBSF. Here are the key numbers for each type of bobsled.
Sled
Maximum length
Maximum weight with crew
Four-man
3.80 m (12 ft 6 in)
630 kg (1,390 lb)
Two-man
2.70 m (8 ft 10 in)
390 kg (860 lb)
Two-woman
2.70 m (8 ft 10 in)
340 kg (750 lb)
Monobob
Standardized sled for all athletes
247 kg (545 lb); sled alone at least 162 kg
Teams that come in under the limit may bolt extra weight onto the sled, because a heavier sled carries more momentum down the track. Every bobsled runs on four steel blades called runners: a shorter pair at the front, which the pilot steers, and a fixed pair at the back.
What do bobsledders wear?
- A skin-tight racing suit, usually lycra, to cut air resistance. Short sleeves are not allowed.
- A full protective helmet on every training run and race.
- Goggles or a visor for the pilot. Gloves are optional.
- Spiked shoes that grip the ice during the push start. The spikes may be no thicker than 1 mm and no longer than 4 mm.
Where they race
Bobsled Tracks: How Many Are There and How Long Are They?
Short answer
The United States has two bobsled tracks: the Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Bobsled Run in Lake Placid, New York, and the track at Utah Olympic Park in Park City, Utah. Worldwide there are fewer than 20 tracks certified for international racing, mostly in Europe, North America and East Asia.
How long is a bobsled track?
International rules call for a track of 1,200 to 1,300 metres (roughly three quarters of a mile) with at least 15 curves. A run takes under a minute. Top sleds pass 130 km/h (80 mph), and the fastest speed ever recorded is 157 km/h (97.6 mph), set in 2019.
St. Moritz, where bobsled history began, still runs the world's only natural-ice track. It is rebuilt by hand from snow and water every winter. North America's first artificial run was built in Canada in 1911, and the first in the United States opened at Lake Placid for the 1932 Winter Olympics.
Cool Runnings, the real story
The Jamaican Bobsled Team: A New Chapter in Bobsled History
In 1987, two Americans living in Jamaica, George Fitch and William Maloney, watched a pushcart derby and saw the start of a bobsled race. The pushcart racers had the explosive speed. What Jamaica did not have was ice, a track, a sled or a single bobsledder.
The Jamaica Defence Force became the recruiting ground. The team was selected in September 1987, took its first run down a bobsled track that October in Calgary, Canada, and trained in Innsbruck, Austria, and Lake Placid, New York, before the Games. Four months after seeing ice for the first time, Jamaica was at the Olympics.
No ice at home: Jamaican bobsledders built their explosive start on a wheeled push sled.
The original Jamaican bobsled team
- Devon Harris, lieutenant, Second Battalion, Jamaica Defence Force
- Dudley Stokes, captain, Air Wing of the Jamaica Defence Force
- Michael White, private, National Reserves of the Jamaica Defence Force
- Samuel Clayton, railway engineer, later replaced by Chris Stokes
At the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics, the four-man sled crashed on its third run. The crew climbed out and brought their sled across the finish line on foot, a moment that became the heart of Disney's 1993 film Cool Runnings. The movie fictionalized the characters and many events, but the spirit of that finish was real.
The team did not go home and quit. Between Calgary and Albertville, it reworked its start sequence three times, chasing the hundredths of a second that decide a race. Devon Harris returned as captain in 1992 and again in 1998, becoming a three-time Olympian.
Jamaica at the Winter Olympics
1988 Calgary
Olympic debut in two-man and four-man. The four-man crash becomes legend.
1992 Albertville
Two-man and four-man sleds return, with Devon Harris as captain.
1994 Lillehammer
The four-man sled finishes 14th, ahead of teams from the United States, Russia and France.
1998 Nagano
Devon Harris's third Olympics, again as team captain.
2002 Salt Lake City
Jamaica competes in the two-man event.
2014 Sochi
A Jamaican two-man sled returns to the Olympics after a 12-year gap.
2018 PyeongChang
Jamaica's first women's team: Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian and Carrie Russell.
2022 Beijing
Two-man and four-man sleds compete, the first Jamaican four-man at the Games since 1998.
2026 Milano Cortina
Mica Moore finishes 14th in women's monobob, equalling Jamaica's best Olympic bobsleigh result.
Jamaica's place in bobsled history proves that a team without ice, money or tradition can still earn its spot on the start line. That lesson is exactly what Devon Harris now carries onto conference stages around the world.
For event planners and leaders
The team that should never have made it to the Olympics did. Now that story can power your next conference.
Devon Harris turns the Jamaican bobsled journey into a keynote on resilience, teamwork and performance under pressure for corporate meetings, associations and sales kickoffs. Organizations including Booking.com, IBM and Sandals have brought Devon to their stage.
Prefer to talk? Speaker@DevonHarris.com · 844-853-3766
Did you know?
Bobsled Facts: 20 Fun and Interesting Facts About Bobsledding
Looking for quick bobsledding facts for a class, a quiz night or the next Winter Olympics? Here are 20 of the most interesting facts about bobsleigh, from its first runs in the Alps to Jamaica's famous debut.
01
Bobsledding was born during the winter season at a luxury hotel in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in the 1870s and 1880s.
02
The name comes from early crews "bobbing" back and forth to gain speed. It did not work, but the name stuck.
03
The world's first bobsleigh club was founded in St. Moritz in 1897.
04
Four-man bobsleigh was raced at the very first Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, in 1924.
05
At the 1928 Olympics in St. Moritz, sleds carried five athletes. It is the only time a five-man event was held.
06
Bobsleigh has been missing from only one Winter Olympics: Squaw Valley 1960, where no track was built.
07
The fastest bobsled speed on record is 157 km/h (97.6 mph), set in 2019.
08
In the tightest curves, bobsledders feel forces of up to 5 g, about five times their own body weight.
09
Teams below the maximum weight bolt extra weight onto their sled, because a heavier sled carries more speed.
10
Only the pilot looks where the sled is going. The crew behind keep their heads down to cut air resistance.
11
Racing runners are temperature checked before races, because heating them to go faster is against the rules.
12
St. Moritz runs the world's only natural-ice bobsled track, rebuilt by hand from snow and water every winter.
13
The United States has just two bobsled tracks: Lake Placid, New York, and Park City, Utah.
14
The two-man bobsled was developed in the United States, where the Linney brothers added the side push handles used for the running start.
15
Women's bobsleigh joined the Olympics in 2002, and women's monobob followed in 2022.
16
Many bobsledders start out as sprinters, hurdlers or football players, because the push start rewards explosive speed.
17
The United States won bobsleigh gold at every Winter Olympics from 1928 to 1948.
18
Jamaica's first bobsled team was recruited largely from the Jamaica Defence Force, and its athletes first saw a bobsled track just four months before the 1988 Olympics.
19
The 1988 Jamaican team inspired Disney's 1993 film Cool Runnings.
20
In 1994, Jamaica's four-man sled finished 14th at Lillehammer, ahead of teams from the United States, Russia and France.
Ride or sport?
Why Is Bobsledding a Sport?
Some people see bobsledding as a ride rather than a sport. The athletes see it very differently. A bobsled crew must sprint while pushing a sled that weighs hundreds of kilograms, load into a tight shell in a fraction of a second, and then hold perfect body position under forces of up to 5 g.
The pilot memorizes every curve of every track and makes steering corrections measured in centimetres at over 120 km/h. Bobsledders train year round in sprinting, weightlifting and push practice, and a full World Cup season tests consistency across many different tracks and countries. Few sports ask for sprinter speed, weightlifter power and a race car driver's nerve in the same minute.
Quick answers
Bobsled History FAQ
When did bobsledding start?
Bobsledding started in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in the 1870s and 1880s. The first bobsleigh club was founded there in 1897, and the first purpose-built bobsleigh track opened in 1902.
Who invented the bobsled?
No single person invented the bobsled. British and American winter guests at Caspar Badrutt's hotel in St. Moritz developed it by adding a steering mechanism to toboggans so they could race them.
What country invented bobsledding?
Switzerland. The sport was created in the Swiss resort town of St. Moritz, which is still home to the world's only natural-ice bobsled track.
When did bobsleigh become an Olympic sport?
Bobsleigh has been an Olympic sport since the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, in 1924. Two-man bobsleigh was added in 1932, women's bobsleigh in 2002 and women's monobob in 2022.
Why is it called a bobsled?
Early crews "bobbed" back and forth on the straights, believing it would make the sled faster. It did not help, but the name stuck.
Is it bobsled or bobsleigh?
Both are correct and describe the same sport. Bobsleigh is more common in Europe and in the official name of the IBSF; bobsled and bobsledding are more common in North America.
How fast do bobsleds go?
Top sleds regularly pass 130 km/h (80 mph). The fastest bobsled speed on record is 157 km/h (97.6 mph).
How many people are on a bobsled?
One, two or four. Olympic events are four-man, two-man, two-woman and women's monobob.
How long is a bobsled track?
International rules call for 1,200 to 1,300 metres, roughly three quarters of a mile, with at least 15 curves.
How many bobsled tracks are in the US?
Two: the Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Bobsled Run in Lake Placid, New York, and the Utah Olympic Park track in Park City, Utah.
When did monobob start?
Monobob was raced at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games and became an Olympic medal event for women at Beijing 2022.
Was Cool Runnings a true story?
It was inspired by the real 1988 Jamaican bobsled team, including Devon Harris. The film fictionalized the characters and many events, but the team, the crash and its walk to the finish line were real.
About the author
Devon Harris: Olympic Bobsledder, Keynote Speaker, Author
Devon Harris grew up in Olympic Gardens in Kingston, Jamaica, graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and was serving as an officer in the Jamaica Defence Force when he became an original member of the 1988 Jamaican Bobsled Team. He competed at three Winter Olympics (1988, 1992 and 1998) and captained the team in 1992 and 1998. Today he is an international keynote speaker, the author of Keep On Pushing, and the founder of the Keep On Pushing Foundation.
Booking inquiries: Speaker@DevonHarris.com · 844-853-3766 · Full bio · Resilience keynote
Sources: International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), Olympics.com, St. Moritz Bobsleigh Club.
Keep On Pushing.