Skeleton is a fast
winter sliding sport in which a person rides a small
sled down a frozen track while lying face down (prone), during which the rider experiences forces up to 5
g and reaches speeds over 130 km/h (80 mph). The sport was named from the bony appearance of the sled. It was added to the Olympic program for the
2002 Winter Olympics; previously, it had been in the Olympic program only in St. Moritz,
Switzerland, in
1928 and
1948.