Strip bobsledding down to its essence - one human being and the slightest of sleds - and you have skeleton, a sport whose name comes from the bare-bone metal frames first used in 1892. In many ways, skeleton is one of the simplest sports. After the initial push-off, the only factors determining success are the driver`s skill and the external forces acting on driver and sled: gravity, airflow and friction. Yet, these forces can take on so many characteristics and have such a profound effect on performance that researchers are using advanced approaches such as digital shape sampling and processing (DSSP), computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and extreme visualization to shave off the precious tenths of seconds that can make the difference between an Olympics medal and disappointment.
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