Q 01/05

What were the first racing bobsleighs of the 1880s mostly built from?

A) Wrought iron

B) Wood

C) Sheet steel

D) Wicker

Answer · why

B) Wood

Wood. By one account the very first was simply two wooden sleighs joined by a plank, rigged up in 1888 by an American visitor, Wilson Smith, to ride d...

Q 02/05

By tradition, the 'bob' in bobsleigh recalls early crews doing what?

A) Ducking under bridges

B) Bouncing over ruts

C) Rocking back and forth

D) Weaving side to side

Answer · why

C) Rocking back and forth

Rocking back and forth. Riders bobbed like this in the belief that it added speed, and the sport says that is where the name comes from, though dictio...

Q 03/05

A St. Moritz hotelier's 1864 money-back bet is said to have launched winter tourism in the Alps with guests from which country?

A) Germany

B) England

C) Russia

D) United States

Answer · why

B) England

England. As the story goes, the hotelier dared a few summer guests to return in winter and promised to cover their costs if they were disappointed; th...

Q 04/05

Why were the early sledders in St. Moritz eventually banned from the public roads?

A) Noise complaints from hotel guests

B) Damage to the cobbled streets

C) A fatal crash involving a mail coach

D) Too many collisions with pedestrians

Answer · why

D) Too many collisions with pedestrians

Too many collisions with pedestrians. Pushed off the streets, the sledders got purpose-built ice runs just outside the village instead, beginning with...

Q 05/05

Eddie Eagan won bobsleigh gold in 1932, twelve years after winning Olympic gold in which summer sport?

A) Rowing

B) Fencing

C) Boxing

D) Wrestling

Answer · why

C) Boxing

Boxing. Beaten in his first bout at the 1924 Games, he came back eight years later on a sled and won, the only person with gold in different sports at...