From the Home Office in Durham, USA
This morning, September 25, 2014, the world awoke to news that the FIBT has decided to allow mixed-gender four-man (four-person now?) bobsled teams starting this season. It’s a huge step forward for gender-equity anyway you look at it, and the FIBT should be applauded for what can still be considered a relatively bold move in the grand scheme of sport.
So how did we get here? Not terribly long ago, women weren’t even allowed to compete in bobsled at the top level of international competition. Women’s bobsled didn’t make it to the World Cup level until the mid 1990s, and it wouldn’t be until the Salt Lake games in 2002 before they were allowed to compete at the Olympic level. And though all of this, it had only been official two-woman competitions being held, with whispers of the hope of running a four-woman sled. Over time, the two-women events have become more and more competitive, and the talent pool becoming progressively larger.
That is the one current issue, though, with the state of women’s bobsled: The number of competitors in the sport. Currently, the fields of women’s bobsled are small, with most races not having any team cut (the current field is limited to 20 for the second heat). While nations like the United States and Germany could likely field a few competitive four-woman teams, the current depths of most other teams would render most races with incredibly small fields, likely with either the US or Germany taking the bulk of the wins. While it would be a great thing to see in the long term, at the moment, there’s just not enough women to run a straight-up competitive four-woman race. Will it happen in time? One can only hope. We’ve seen nations grow their women’s programs over time, this would be the next logical step.
So that leads us to today’s big announcement from the FIBT. Some of the best bobsled pilots in the world are women, led currently by Canada’s Kaillie Humphries and Elana Myers Taylor of the United States. Both pilots, not only are phenomenal drivers, but also tend to knock off some of the biggest start times in the business. While driving a four-man sled is entirely different than the two-man sled, both shouldn’t have too much trouble acclimating to the weight differences with enough practice. Of course, neither woman will just be waltzing into a new four-man sled without stiff competition from the men. Both Canada and the United States currently have deep rosters of four-man pilots, and any chance to race in four-man would be earned and not given. That said, an athlete doesn’t get to the top of their sport by sitting back and waiting for things to be given, and athletes like Humphries and Myers Taylor will be up to the challenge.
“I’m super excited about the opportunity to drive 4-man,” Myers Taylor said. “We’ve had such great women pilots in the sport since the beginning: US pilots like Jean Prahm, Shauna Rohbock, and the like. I know they would’ve wanted this opportunity so now that it’s finally come I’m excited for a new challenge and to see what the future holds. This is a great day for women’s bobsledders!”
The move by the FIBT has been applauded across the board by athletes, former athletes, fans and media alike, and it will make for a very interesting next four years as the sport works its way to Pyeongchang and the 2018 Winter Games.
– The thoughts and opinions in this article are those of Ken Childs alone.
