2010 Winter Olympics: Who Will Win Gold in the Skeleton?

As the 2010 Winter Olympics are right around the corner, many of the best athletes at their prospective winter sports have colluded in Vancouver, Canada to take on their toughest challengers and fight for the gold.

An array of sporting events will be showcased throughout the over two-week long games, including usual suspects like curling, ice hockey and figure skating. But, another sport has become quite popular -- the skeleton.

Skeleton racing (or tobogganing) originates from the British sport of cresta sledding. Although both types of racers use the same type of equipment, they do not use the same type of course. Skeleton runs on tracks similar to those of the luge and bobsleigh, while cresta runs on a track only specific to its own type of racing. Skeleton sleds also do not have any type of brake mechanisms, which is a remarkable aspect considering racers can experience about 5 G’s of force as they slide through the course.

The skeleton is a rather new Olympic sport, originally added to the festivities in 1928 before being pulled in 1948. The sport was resurrected at the 2002 games in Salt Lake City and has been a mainstay ever since.

The racing in this year’s games will be done at the Whistler Sliding Centre, a 12,000-seat venue which can only be accessed by spectators walking to view the event. Each angle of the track presents a unique and diverse perspective, which is of course is true if you don’t blink and miss the racers sliding by.

When it comes to favorites to win gold, there are a few who could break through and take the prestigious top spot.

One is Martins Dukurs, a male racer attempting to win Latvia’s first ever gold medal at any Winter Olympic games. Dukurs is currently atop the World Cup skeleton standings, winning three of the first seven races and holding a wide margin between first and second place. Martins’ brother, Tomass, has five top-seven finishes under his belt and may also be a force come game time.

The Dukurs brothers also have a better opportunity to bring their country gold more than any other Olympics thus far, due to the injury of Switzerland’s Gregor Stahli. Stahli is the only skeleton racer in history to win two medals in the event— a bronze in both 2002 and 2006. Stahli was also the world champion in 2007 and 2009, but his failure to recovery from a torn thigh muscle will leave him out of Vancouver this time around.

When it comes to the female racers, absolutely anything may transpire.

Experts have said that Canada may come away with gold medals in both the men’s and the women’s races. One Canadian female looked at with high regard is 2006 bronze medalist Mellisa Hollingsworth, who has been neck-and-neck in a battle for first place with 2006 silver medalist Shelley Rudman of Great Britain and German Kerstin Szymkowiak. The Germans look to be the biggest competition for both Rudman and Hollingsworth, especially considering a German (Marion Trott) is the reigning world champion.

And on an interesting note, the skeleton competition this year has been altered in a big way. Where as the race used to be held over two heats, it has now been expanded to four. This is a big deal, because racers must now be more consistent and precise, rather than get lucky and pull out the victory in the waning moments.