AI, fancy shoes and all the other gear that powers Olympic bobsleigh

Olympic bobsleigh regularly is called the “Formula 1 of ice”. Tracks are more than 1.5 kilometers (nearly a mile) long, and athletes often race at speeds close to 145 kilometers per hour (90 mph). Bobsledders—whether in teams of four, two, or sliding alone—are often subjected to gravitational forces in excess of 5g. At the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Gamesthey use technology that aims to make every phase of the race, from initial pushing to technical riding to final braking, just a little more precise than in previous Games.

Men’s four-person bobsleigh made its Olympic debut in Chamonix, France, in 1924; women’s two-person bobsleigh first entered the Games in 2002 in Salt Lake City. Women’s monobob arrived in 2022. While the earliest bobsleds were made of wood, the sport has been synonymous with steel for years, although in recent decades it has been replaced by carbon fiber, which offers greater lightness and strength.

Every new technological development in the sport has come amid the restrictions necessary to keep athletes safe, such as weight and sled sizes. The two-person bobsled can have a maximum length of 2.7 meters (about 8.9 feet) and a maximum weight of 390 kilograms (859.8 pounds), including crew. A four-person bobsled cannot exceed 630 kilograms (1,388.9 pounds), including bobbers, and be 3.8 meters (12.47 feet) long.

The weight limit was a necessary step to level the playing field and curb the use of athletic specialists who, although not bobsledders, had in the past proved crucial to their teams’ success through the push phase. This is far from accidental, as this is one of the areas where technology makes the biggest impact on bobsleigh.

At the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Germany won 27 medals, 16 of which came from bobsleigh, pole and skeleton. German athletes tend to excel in bobsleigh because the sport has a long tradition in Germany, but also because the country has long focused on innovation in the sport. For example, car manufacturer BMW is a strategic partner of the German federation that oversees bobsleigh, rod and skeleton (Bob- und Schlittenverband für Deutschland) and is credited with the introduction of custom cleats, a crucial aid to bobbers’ performance.

The first 30 to 50 meters of the Olympic bobsled are often decisive in a race because it is the only time when athletes can push the sled to reach maximum acceleration. A few years ago, BMW realized that innovations in the bobbers’ shoes could improve their performance during that crucial time.

Looking at the preferences for each team member, BMW made custom nail plates that can be integrated into any type of shoe. Using 3D printing, the company was able to adjust the stiffness and shape of the studs for different shoes and needs. Working this way allowed them to quickly experiment and change designs. To avoid excessive wear or breakage, the nails are given greater hardness by plasma nitriding, in which nitrogen is ionized in a high-temperature vacuum and diffused into the steel.

The custom shoes for German bobsledders.

Courtesy of BMW