Everything you need to know about skeleton, the Olympic sport that sends athletes hurtling head first down icy tracks at 90 miles an hour
0
20
Skeleton is a Winter Olympics sport that dates back to the 1880s.Events take place on a track made of ice. In Pyeongchang, the skeleton track is 1,376 meters long.Skeleton athletes push sleds as fast as they can, then jump on and speed head first down the track, using minor shifts in body weight to steer.They can slide at speeds greater than 90 miles per hour.It's really rough on the body. Advertisement There is no shortage of intense sports at the Winter Olympics. Snowboarding is famous for its crashes. Cross-country skiing is so brutal that skiers collapse the moment they cross the finish line. Figure skating moves bring skaters' heads within inches of the ice.But skeleton — in which athletes slidehead first down an icy track at 90 miles per hour— might be in a class of its own.Here's a simple guide to the sport.Skeleton was born in Switzerland in the late 1800s. Today's skeleton sliders look futuristic in their aerodynamic suits, but their sport is one of the oldest at the Winter Ol...