Why four heats, why start order reverses between them, and how much the push really decides about your final placing when the weekend is over.
A bobsleigh competition at the Olympics or a World Championship consists of four heats over two days, two per day; scoring is the added total time to the hundredth of a second, and in a tie two teams share the placing [1]. In the World Cup two heats are usually the norm [1]. One weekend, four chances, one sum.
That sounds like trivia for statisticians. It is not — it is why you sit at the top for heat four on Sunday morning having to calculate instead of attack.
The second rule is the one hardly anyone explains: the start order reverses. Heat one is started by world ranking, everything after that by intermediate standing — heat two from slow to fast, heat three from fast to slow, and only the best 20 reach the final heat, again from slow to fast [1]. Your start number is therefore no coincidence but direct feedback on your position.
And the sport's most honest number belongs here too: push time and finish time correlate moderately — around 0.48 for men and 0.63 for women; changes in push time from heat to heat, by contrast, do not correlate with changes in finish time [2]. Those figures come from a university thesis rather than a journal study — read them cautiously. Their message is clear regardless: your start level predicts. Your start-day form does not.
Scoring uses the added total time to 0.01 seconds [1]. Half a tenth in heat one is worth exactly as much as half a tenth in heat four — it merely feels different. Anyone who plays safe in heat one to save themselves for heat four has not understood the format.
Heat one runs by world ranking, everything after by intermediate standing: heat two slow to fast, heat three fast to slow, final heat only the top 20 and again slow to fast [1]. If you start early in heat three, you know instantly that you are near the front. That information is part of the competition — use it to settle, not to panic.
Ice hardness depends directly on temperature, and the highest speeds fall in a window of roughly minus 10 to minus 20 degrees [4]. Across two days and four heats that inevitably shifts. Note the ice temperature for every run — otherwise you mistake a weather change for a driving error.
The start takes you over roughly 50 metres in five seconds to more than 40 kph (federation practice figures), after which the sled keeps accelerating for almost the whole ride to over 150 kph. But the link to finish time is only moderate: around 0.48 for men, 0.63 for women [2]. A good start buys you time. It does not win you a race.
The finest insight in the data: changes in push time from heat to heat did not correlate with changes in finish time [2]. Translated: a push two hundredths faster in heat three does not automatically mean a better run time. Work on your level across the season — not on your daily form across the weekend.
Two heats, break, two heats [1]. That night is a training factor: sleep, food, neck care. Anyone going to bed with a headache after two heats rides day two with a handicap no start number can offset.
Four heats over two days mean four full loading cycles for head, neck and spine — in a format that delivers the same loading every time across a typical track length of 1,200 to 1,400 metres [3]. Fatigue on day two is normal; headache, visual disturbance or nausea are not. Anyone developing such symptoms between heats reports them and does not simply "finish the weekend".
The competitive pressure of this format is precisely the situation in which athletes play symptoms down. No placing built from four heats is worth risking an unexamined head for. Assessment runs through sports medicine, not self-assessment.
This guide explains the competition format, it does not replace coaching — riding, pushing and loading run exclusively through club, federation and qualified coaches.
Keep a four-column log per weekend: heat, start number, push time, run time — plus ice temperature. After one season you will see two things you would otherwise miss. First, whether your run times relate systematically to start position — early starters ride different ice than late ones. Second, how weak the link actually is between your best and worst push times and the corresponding run times [2]. That insight takes enormous pressure off the start and puts it where it belongs: into preparation.
At the Olympic Games and World Championships, four heats over two days, two per day; scoring is the added total time to the hundredth of a second [1]. In the World Cup two heats are usually the norm [1]. On exactly equal total times two teams share the placing [1].
To even out conditions across the field. Heat one starts by world ranking, after which everything follows the intermediate standing: heat two from slow to fast, heat three from fast to slow, and the final heat with the best 20 again from slow to fast [1].
Important but not decisive. Push time and finish time correlate moderately at around 0.48 for men and 0.63 for women [2]. The crucial nuance sits behind it: changes in push time from heat to heat did not correlate with changes in finish time [2]. These values come from a university thesis.
Because the ice changes. Ice hardness depends directly on ice temperature, and the highest speeds are reached between roughly minus 10 and minus 20 degrees [4]. Across four heats over two days that window shifts. This is why the ice temperature belongs in the log for every run.
Yes, the weight limits are regulated: maximum 630 kilograms in the four-man, 390 in the men's two-man and 330 in the women's two-man, crew included, with any shortfall topped up by added weights [5]. Runner material is standardised and subject to approval as well [5].
Advanced Push Technique: Side Handle, Rear Handle, Acceleration Phase and a Clean Load-In