International Competition

All international events are governed by the FIBT, which has a membership of about 50 nations. The major competitions are the Winter Olympics, the world championships, and the contests on the annual World Cup circuit. All of these events include twoman and fourman races. Countries may enter two sleds in World Cup competition and three sleds in Olympic and world championship competition. The starting order is decided by a ranking based on previous races and the better teams go first. This gives the top teams an advantage because as the competition progresses the sled runners tear up the course, producing slower times. At the Olympics and the world championships, events consist of four runs made by each team. World Cup events involve only two runs per team.