Skeleton is a fast winter sliding sport in which an individual person rides a small sled down a frozen track while lying face down, during which athletes experience forces up to 5g. It originated in St. Moritz, Switzerland as a spin-off from the popular British sport of Cresta Sledding. While skeleton "sliders" use similar equipment to that of cresta "riders", the two sports are different: while skeleton is run on the same track used by bobsleds and luge, cresta is run on cresta-specific sledding tracks only.


SLED

Combined weight(athlete + sled) sled

Men 115 kg 43 kg

Women 92 kg 35 kg




Dimensions

Length: 800–1200 mm
Height: 80–200 mm
Distance between runners: 340-380 mm

Equipment
- alpine racing helmet with chin guard, or a skeleton-specific helmet
- skin-tight racing speedsuit
- spiked shoes, similar to track spikes
- goggle or face shields
- optional elbow and shoulder pads under their suits
- sled