Skeleton at the Winter Olympics

Skeleton is a winter sport featured in the Winter Olympics where the competitor rides head-first and prone (lying face down) on a flat sled. It is normally run on an ice track that allows the sled to gain speed by gravity. It was first contested at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz and again in 1948 Winter Olympics, after which it was discontinued as an Olympic sport. Skeleton was reintroduced at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, with both men's and women's events, and has been held in each Winter Olympic competition since. Skeleton is so-named as the first metal sleds introduced in 1892 were said to resemble a human skeleton.

Skeleton at the Winter Olympics
Governing body	IBSF
Events	2 (men: 1; women: 1)
Games
1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Medalists

The sport is similar to, but not to be confused with, luge, another form of sled racing where the competitor rides on the back and feet-first. Often using the same courses, the racing physics are not identical.

Great Britain is the only nation to have won a medal every time skeleton has featured at the Olympic Games, and has won at least one medal in each of the five contests of Women's skeleton since its introduction with five different athletes.

Events

Event	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	94	98	02	06	10	14	18	Years
Men's skeleton		•			•														•	•	•	•	•	7
Women's skeleton																			•	•	•	•	•	5
Total events		1			1														2	2	2	2	2

Medals

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	3	4	1	8
2	Great Britain (GBR)	3	1	5	9
3	Canada (CAN)	2	1	1	4
4	Russia (RUS)	1	0	2	3
	Switzerland (SUI)	1	0	2	3
6	Italy (ITA)	1	0	0	1
	South Korea (KOR)	1	0	0	1
8	Germany (GER)	0	2	1	3
9	Latvia (LAT)	0	2	0	2
10	Austria (AUT)	0	1	0	1
	Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR)	0	1	0	1
Totals (11 nations)		12	12	12	36

Updated after 2018 Winter Olympics.

Nations

Numbers indicate the number of skeleton racers each nation sent to that Olympics.

Nation	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	94	98	02	06	10	14	18	Years
Argentina (ARG)																			1					1
Australia (AUS)																				2	3	3	2	4
Austria (AUT)		2			1														2	2	1	3	2	7
Belgium (BEL)																							1	1
Bermuda (BER)																				1				1
Canada (CAN)																			5	5	6	4	6	5
China (CHN)																							1	1
Croatia (CRO)																				1				1
Czech Republic (CZE)																			1					1
France (FRA)		1			1														1	1	1			5
Germany (GER)																			4	4	6	5	6	5
Ghana (GHA)																							1	1
Great Britain (GBR)		1			4														2	3	4	4	4	7
Greece (GRE)																			2			1		2
Ireland (IRL)																			1	1	1	1		4
Israel (ISR)																							1	1
Italy (ITA)		2			1														2	2	2	1	1	7
Jamaica (JAM)																							1	1
Japan (JPN)																			3	3	3	3	3	5
Latvia (LAT)																			1	1	2	3	3	5
Lebanon (LIB)																				1				1
Mexico (MEX)																			1					1
Netherlands (NED)																							1	1
New Zealand (NZL)																			1	2	3	2	1	5
Nigeria (NGR)																							1	1
Norway (NOR)																			1	1	1		1	4
Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR)																							2	1
Poland (POL)																				1				1
Romania (ROU)																					1	2	2	3
Russia (RUS)																			2	2	4	6		4
Slovenia (SLO)																					1			1
South Africa (RSA)																				1				1
South Korea (KOR)																			1		1	2	3	4
Spain (ESP)																					1	1	1	3
Switzerland (SUI)		2			4														3	3	2	1	1	7
Ukraine (UKR)																							1	1
United States (USA)		2			4														5	4	5	5	4	7
Nations		6			6														19	21	19	17	24
Skeleton racers		10			15														39	42	48	47	50

See also

• List of Olympic venues in skeleton

References

External links

Media related to Skeleton at the Olympics at Wikimedia Commons