What's the difference between bobsled, luge and skeleton at the Winter Olympics?

Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing are here! And, after four years, that means you may need or want a reminder about how some winter sports work. That’s OK because we’re here to help.

The Winter Olympics offer opportunities to compete in some truly terrifying sports. Sure, in the Summer Olympics, the high jump could be scary, the pentathlon sounds exhausting and platform diving is a long way away from the water.

But there’s nothing quite like the idea of sliding down a course made of ice at up to around 90 miles per hour, and the Winter Olympics feature multiple sports that do just that.

So here’s a breakdown highlighting the differences between bobsled, luge and skeleton, all of which will be held on the 1,615-meter track at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.