The Winter Olympics are all about speed, and not only in the races. A figure skater needs it to execute a jump. A hockey player needs it to break away from the defense. Even a curler … well, we’ll get to that in a bit. Here’s a quick look at speed in the Games.
Did you notice which Olympian at the top of this page flew by the fastest?
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If you cheated just now, we’ll let it slide. While the three sliding sports involve hurtling down the same ice-lined track as quickly as possible, lugers reach the fastest average speeds, sometimes topping 90 mph. That’s because they start in a different place from the others and spend a greater portion of their runs on the steep parts. In the bobsled or skeleton starts, athletes push their sleds along a flat run-up area before hopping in (or on). Lugers, however, are seated at the start and use their arms to fling themselves into an almost immediate downhill drop. In the most recent world championships, the luge winner averaged 81.3 mph, followed by the four-man bobsled (78.7 mph) and the skeleton (71.9 mph).
SPEEDS COMPARED
81.3 mph
Luge
78.7
Bobsled
71.9
Skeleton
66.0
Downhill skier
32.8
Long-track speed skater
24.9
Hockey player
20.0
Figure skater
17.1
Cross-country skier
11.0
Curler
Speeds for racing sports based on the top average speed of the most recent World Cup champions. Others are based on published estimates of top speeds in the sports.
SLEDDING SPORTS
Bobsleds have rudimentary steering and brakes.
Bobsled
Luge
Skeleton
Luge and skeleton sleds have no brakes or steering mechanisms. Riders steer by moving their shoulders and legs.
SLEDDING SPORTS
Bobsleds have rudimentary steering and brakes.
Bobsled
Luge
Luge and skeleton sleds have no brakes or steering mechanisms. Riders steer by moving their shoulders and legs.
Skeleton
Bobsleds have rudimentary steering and brakes.
SLEDDING SPORTS
Bobsled
Luge
Luge and skeleton sleds have no brakes or steering mechanisms. Riders steer by moving their shoulders and legs.
Skeleton
What is the fastest speed a downhill skier ever recorded in competition?
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This is a bit of a trick question. At the 2013 World Cup downhill event, Johan Clarey, a French alpine skier, hit a record top speed of 100.6 mph during a run. That’s the fastest top skiing speed among disciplines that are contested at the Olympics. But there is a non-Olympic sport called speed skiing in which competitors point their skis downhill and try for the fastest top speed. In 2016, Italian skier Ivan Origone hit 158.4 mph.
SKIING SPORTS
At his record top speed, skier Johan Clarey could rocket the roughly two miles from the U.S. Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial in 1 minute, 11 seconds. However, the trip is not downhill.
A world-class cross-country skier can average over 20 mph on flat ground and would be able to zip across the distance in about 6 minutes. Advantage: XC!
Downhill
skiing
Cross-country
skiing
U.S.
Capitol
Lincoln
Memorial
SKIING SPORTS
Downhill
skiing
Cross-country
skiing
At his record top speed, skier Johan Clarey could rocket the roughly two miles from the U.S. Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial in 1 minute, 11 seconds. However, the trip is not downhill.
A world-class cross-country skier can average over 20 mph on flat ground and would be able to zip across the distance in about 6 minutes. Advantage: XC!
U.S.
Capitol
Washington
Monument
Lincoln
Memorial
SKIING SPORTS
Downhill
skiing
Cross-country
skiing
At his record top speed, skier Johan Clarey could rocket the roughly two miles from the U.S. Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial in 1 minute, 11 seconds. However, the trip is not downhill.
A world-class cross-country skier can average over 20 mph on flat ground and would be able to zip across the distance in about 6 minutes. Advantage: XC!
U.S.
Capitol
Washington
Monument
Lincoln
Memorial
SKIING SPORTS
Downhill
skiing
Cross-country
skiing
At his record top speed, skier Johan Clarey could rocket the roughly two miles from the U.S. Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial in 1 minute, 11 seconds. However, the trip is not downhill.
A world-class cross-country skier can average over 20 mph on flat ground and would be able to zip across the distance in about 6 minutes. Advantage: XC!
U.S.
Capitol
Washington
Monument
Lincoln
Memorial
Who would cover 100 meters faster: A top long-track speedskater or Usain Bolt?
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You got it!
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While Bolt’s world record sprint time of 9.58 seconds is indisputable, its speedskating equivalent is not as definitive. Because speedskaters don’t generally contest the 100 meters, there is no true world record for that distance. However, because a good start is vital in speedskating, World Cup events include a 100-meter split, and the very fastest skaters can, occasionally, cover the first 100 meters in 9.5 seconds or less — a hair quicker than Bolt. So our speedskater wins. That said, who knows what would’ve happened if Bolt had traded his track spikes for speedskates?
SKATING SPORTS
A figure skater needs to be going about 20 mph to successfully land a quadruple jump.
Figure
skater
Hockey players have also been clocked at about 20 mph — and they wear up to 20 pounds of equipment.
Hockey
player
Speedskaters’ blades have almost no curve, allowing for long, powerful strides and speeds that top 30 mph.
Speed
skater
SKATING SPORTS
Figure
skater
Hockey
player
Speed
skater
A figure skater needs to be going about 20 mph to successfully land a quadruple jump.
Hockey players have also been clocked at about 20 mph — and they wear up to 20 pounds of equipment.
Speedskaters’ blades have almost no curve, allowing for long, powerful strides and speeds that top 30 mph.
SKATING SPORTS
Figure
skater
Hockey
player
Speed
skater
A figure skater needs to be going about 20 mph to successfully land a quadruple jump.
Hockey players have also been clocked at about 20 mph — and they wear up to 20 pounds of equipment.
Speedskaters’ blades have almost no curve, allowing for long, powerful strides and speeds that top 30 mph.
Does curling actually require speed?
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For those of you who picked Option Four, curling is basically shuffleboard on ice. That lonely figure puttering across the top of this page while others zoom by is a curler, and yes, curlers move intentionally slowly — about 4-5 mph — as they glide with a stone toward their target, the “house.” But it is arm speed, not leg speed, that wins medals. The broom-wielding sweepers skitter ahead of the stones, warming the ice surface with fast-moving strokes to decrease friction in various spots. This speeds up the stone and makes subtle changes to its trajectory. A 2009 study found that top sweepers often swipe their brooms a speedy 10 strokes per second, which raises their heart rates into zones typical of marathoners.
CURLING
Sweeping the ice in front of a curling stone reduces friction and causes it to move faster.
CURLING
Sweeping the ice in front of a curling stone reduces friction and causes it to move faster.
CURLING
Sweeping the ice in front of a curling stone reduces friction and causes it to move faster.
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Correction: A previous version of this story made a change to the word brakes.
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