Lake Placid bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track

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The Lake Placid bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track is a venue for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton located in Lake Placid, New York. This venue was used for the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics and for the only winter Goodwill Games in 2000. The third and most recent version of the track was completed in 2000 with the track hosting both the first FIBT World Championships and FIL World Luge Championships done outside of Europe, doing so in 1949^[1] and 1983.^[2]

Contents 1 History 2 Current track statistics 3 Previous tracks 4 Championships hosted 5 References 6 External links

[edit] History

Prior to the 1932 Winter Olympics, bobsleigh racing took place at the steep hill where the Intervales ski jump would eventually be located.^[3] The attendees were delighted by the speeds of the bobsleds though several teams crashed during the run, sending two members of one team to the hospital as a result.^[3] The Intervales track only lasted one season (1929-30).^[3] Led by Henry Homburger, the first track was surveyed and constructed during 1929-30 at Mount Van Hoevenberg, located in the Whiteface Mountain area though it was in spite of protests of using state-owned lands for construction of the facility for environmental reasons.^[3] After construction took place during August-December 1930, the track opened for use on Christmas Day 1930. This track was 2366 meters long with 26 curves, a vertical drop of 228 meters, and an average grade of 9.6%.^[3] After the 1932 games, the first 829 meters and ten curves of the track were eliminated, shortening the track's length to 1537 meters with 16 curves, and an average grade of 9.3%.^[4] In 1949, the track became the first venue outside of Europe to host the FIBT World Championships^[1] though it would start with tragic results with Belgian bobsledder Max Houben would be killed during a practice run off of "Shady" curve prior to the event.^[5] The Belgian team withdrew as a result. It would be another twelve years before the track hosted another world championship following safety improvements to the track.^[1] By this time, track officials had established a relationship with the International Bobsleigh and Tobogganing Federation (FIBT).^[6] Sergio Zardini's fatal crash at the "Zig-Zag curves" in February 1966 would lead to further safety improvements.^[7][4] Following the world bobsleigh championships of 1969, 1973, and 1978, many race officials of those championships would serve on the organizing committee for the bobsleigh part of the 1980 Winter Olympics. ^[6]. The 1932 track was demolished in 1978 with actual construction taking place during September 1978-February 1979 with the creation of a reinforced concrete, artificially refrigerated bobsleigh track.^[6] The bobsleigh track was approved for competition in December 1979.^[6] In fall 1977, a separate luge track for the 1980 Games, the first one in the United States, was constructed with completion in time for the test competition in February 1979. During preparations for the 1980 Games, a combined two-man bobsleigh and luge track was considered, but abandoned to high cost and the track was redesigned with permission from the International Luge Federation (FIL).^[6]. Following the 1980 games, both tracks hosted their respective world championships ^[1]in 1983.^[2]. Skeleton racing debutted during the 1990s with the bobsleigh part of the track hosting the world championships in 1997.^[8] By the late 1990s, parts of both tracks were demolished to make way for a new track that was constructed for the 2000 Winter Goodwill Games that was completed in January 2000.^[9] The track has been part of the Lake Placid Olympic Sports Complex since the end of the 1980 Winter Olympics as part of the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA).^[10][11] Since 2006, it has hosted the Chevy Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge, an annual event which has NASCAR drivers take a run down the track to benefit the Bo-Dyn bobsled (co-created by the former NASCAR driver and 1986 Daytona 500 winner) in use by the United States since the start of the 1994 Winter Olympics.^[12] In 2008, the competition took place between NASCAR and the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) though Boris Said (representing NASCAR) won the event for the third straight year.^[12]

[edit] Current track statistics

Physical statistics

Sport	Length (meters)	Turns	Grade
Bobsleigh and men's singles luge[13]	1455	20	9.8%
Skeleton	-	19	9.8%
Luge - women's singles and men's doubles[14]	1130	17	-

The track names were given by John Morgan during Speed Channel's World Cup bobsleigh coverage on December 30, 2006.^[15] Turn one is not listed. Even though luge - men's singles has their starthouse to the right of bobsleigh and skeleton start, the men's singles start in the same location as the bobsleigh and skeleton.

Current track turns

Turn Number	Name	Reason named
2., 3.	Cliffside	Because the track was located alongside a cliff.
4.	Whiteface	After the Whiteface Mountains of New York. Luge - women's singles and men's doubles join the track at this curve.
5., 6., 7., 8., 9.	Devil's Highway	Omega curve (5 through 7), followed by two short, successive curves (8, 9).
10.	Shady II	The corner was in the shadows even when the rest of the track was shining.
11., 12., 13., 14.	Labyrinth	Four quick curves in succession.
14.	Benham's bend.	After Stanley Benham (1913-70), who won the gold medal in the four-man event at the 1949 FIBT World Championships in Lake Placid.
15., 16.	Chicane	2 small rolling "curves" in long straightaway before 17. An athlete on the proper line will appear to travel in a straight line between the exit of 14 and entrance of 17 as they travel through the chicane.
17., 18., 19.	Heart curve	Shaped like symbolic symbol of a heart.[15] It is sometimes referred to as the Trickle corner after former NASCAR driver Dick Trickle who crashed out on both runs during the 2006 Bodine Bobsled Challenge at turns 17 and 18.[16] The finish line for skeleton is at the exit of 19.
20.	Finish[15]	The end of the track before the finish line.

Track records^[17]

Sport	Record	Nation - athlete(s)	Date	Time (seconds)
Bobsleigh two-woman[18]	Start	Canada - Kaillie Humphries & Shelley-Ann Brown	December 15, 2007	5.54
Bobsleigh two-woman[18]	Track	Germany - Sandra Kiriasis & Romy Logsch	December 15, 2007	56.94
Luge - men's singles[19]	Start	Andi Langenhan -  Germany	November 15, 2007	1.715
Luge - men's singles[19]	Track	Armin Zöggeler -  Italy	November 17, 2007	52.443
Luge - women's singles[20]	Start	Natalie Geisenberger -  Germany	November 16, 2007	6.397
Luge - women's singles[20]	Track	Silke Kraushaar -  Germany	November 23, 2001	44.021
Luge - men's doubles[21]	Start	Italy - Christian Oberstolz & Patrick Gruber	November 16, 2007	6.284
Luge - men's doubles[21]	Track	Austria - Andreas Linger & Wolfgang Linger	November 16, 2007	43.997
Men's skeleton[22]	Track	Eric Bernotas -  United States	December 14, 2007	54.43
Women's skeleton[23]	Track	Carla Pavan -  Canada	December 14, 2007	56.23

[edit] Previous tracks

The only curves mentioned in the 1932 Winter Olympics official report of the 26 total are shown below:^[3]

1932 track curves

Turn Number	Name	Reason named
4.	Eyrle	-
10.	Whiteface	After the Whiteface Mountains of New York.
14.	Cliffside	Because the track was located alongside a cliff.
19.	Shady Corner	The corner was in the shadows even when the rest of the track was shining.
23., 24., 25.	Zig-Zag	Labyrinth curve (three quick curves in succession) in the shape of an S.

The bobsleigh track used for the 1980 Winter Olympics consisted of 16 curves that was 1557 meters long with an elevation difference of 148 meters, a maximum grade of 14.0%, and an average grade of 9.5%.^[24]

The luge track used for the 1980 Winter Olympics had two different settings to the different start houses used during the competition. For the men's singles event, the track consisted of 14 curves that was 1014 meters long with an elevation difference of 95.55 meters, a maximum gradient of 30% and an average grade of 9.35%.^[24] In the women's singles and men's doubles event, the track consisted of 11 curves that was 749 meters long with an elevation difference of 59 meters, a maximum grade of 30%, and an average grade of 9.35%.^[24]

[edit] Championships hosted

• Winter Olympics: 1932, 1980
• FIBT World Championships: 1949, 1961, 1969, 1973, 1978, 1983^[1], 1997 (men's skeleton)^[8], 2003 (Men's bobsleigh)^[1], 2009^[25]
• FIL World Luge Championships: 1983^[2], 2009^[26]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• FIBT track profile - Click on video link for track. Luge - men's singles intersects with the bobsleigh & skeleton part of the track prior to turn one, then where luge - women's singles & men's doubles intersect with bobsleigh-skeleton at turn four.
• Official website

v • d • e List of bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton tracks Current artificial tracks Altenberg • Calgary • Cesana • Cortina d'Ampezzo • Igls • Königssee • Krasnaya Polyana • Lake Placid • La Plagne • Lillehammer • Nagano • Oberhof • Paramonovo • Park City • Sigulda • St. Moritz • Whistler • Winterberg Former artificial tracks Alpe d'Huez • Chamonix • Garmisch-Partenkirchen • Hammarstrand • Imst • Oslo • Teineyama bobsleigh • Teineyama luge • Trebević • Villard-de-Lans Natural luge tracks List of natural luge tracks