Sigulda bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track

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Sigulda bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track's lower start
Sigulda bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track's lower start

The Sigulda bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track is located in Sigulda, Latvia. Currently, the track manager is Dainis Dukurs, former bobsleigh brakeman and the father of skeleton racers Martins and Tomass Dukurs.

Contents

[edit] History

Sledding took place in Sigulda as early as 1887.[1] Several alpine skiing venues were held near the track following World War II.[1] By the late 1960's, the city government of Sigulda approved construciton of a new track, which was finally completed in 1986.[1] It was built for the needs of Soviet bobsledders and lugers. Although skeleton wasn't initially in the building plan, Sigulda has hosted World Cup races in skeleton in the 2000s. Also, luge competitions are hosted in Sigulda each year, however, the track can't host four-man bobsleigh races, therefore there haven't been any Bobsleigh World Cup or World Championship races hosted in Sigulda. Zintis Ekmanis and the original track designer has designed a new layout which would change two curves and make four-man bobsleigh races possible, though lugers are not happy with this idea [2] because this may render the track unusable for women's singles and men's doubles lugers. Also, Dainis Dukurs has said in an interview for Sporta Avīze that there was an experiment involving Juris Šics, Andris Šics, Tomass Dukurs and Martins Dukurs, in which the quartet drove with a four-man bobsleigh without crashing. Dukurs stated that this proves that the track is, in fact, suitable for four-man teams, but to make it perfect for bobsleigh, most of the track should be rebuilt. Reconstruction is expected to be completed in 2010. [3] Also, an artificial ice start estacade will be built in summer of 2008.

[edit] Statistics

Physical statistics
Sport[4] Length (meters) Turns
Two-man bobsleigh and skeleton[4] 1200 16
Luge - men's singles[4] 1200 16
Luge - women's singles and men's doubles[5] 988 13

No vertical drop, percent grading, or turn names were mentioned.[4][5]

Track records
Sport Record Nation - athlete(s) Date Time (seconds)
Luge - men's singles[6] Start Denis Geppert - Flag of Germany Germany November 16, 2003 4.303
Luge - men's singles[6] Track Armin Zöggeler - Flag of Italy Italy February 15, 2008 48.585
Luge - women's singles[6] Start Tatjana Hüfner - Flag of Germany Germany February 15, 2008 1.799
Luge - women's singles[6] Track Sylke Otto - Flag of Germany Germany February 28, 2003 42.713
Luge - men's doubles[6] Start Flag of Austria Austria - Tobias Schiegl & Markus Schiegl February 18, 2007 1.707
Luge - men's doubles[6] Track Flag of Italy Italy - Christian Oberstolz & Patrick Gruber February 16, 2008 42.417

[edit] Championships hosted

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c History of sport in Sigulda in English. - accessed February 21, 2008.
  2. ^ Latvijas kamaniņbraucēji kritiski vērtē ieceri pārbūvēt Siguldas trasi (Latvian). TvNET (12.03.2006.).
  3. ^ Discussion in eSports.lv (Latvian)
  4. ^ a b c d Vietas.lv - Siguldas bobsleja un kamaniņu trase (Latvian)
  5. ^ a b FIL-Luge track profile
  6. ^ a b c d e f From live track results shown from the FIL World Cup results during February 14-17, 2008.
  7. ^ June 30, 2006 FIL-Luge.org article on awarding the 2010 European championships to Sigulda, Latvia. - accessed February 13, 2008

[edit] External links

  • FIBT track profile - Click on video to show run down the track from a skeleton racer's perspective. Men's singles luge intersects with two-man bobsleigh/ skeleton part of the track prior to turn one while women's singles/ men's doubles luge intersect prior to turn four.
  • FIL-Luge track profile
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