Olympic Sliding Centre Innsbruck

History

In 1935, Igls hosted the two-man event of the world bobsleigh championships when the track ran from Römerstrasses to the Patscherkofel valley railroad station. Several fatal accidents at the finishing curve occurred during competition, causing temporarily closure of the track until safety measures were introduced. Track construction began in September 1961 and was officially completed in July 1963 following test runs of both tracks, including twenty injuries during the 1963 FIBT World Championships on the bobsleigh track. Prior to the start of the 1964 Winter Olympics, British luger Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski was killed in a training run on the luge course. When Denver, Colorado, in the United States withdrew in 1972 after being awarded the 1976 Winter Olympics two years earlier for financial reasons, the International Olympic Committee offered the games to 1976 runner-up Whistler, British Columbia in Canada (northeast of Vancouver), but Whistler declined in the wake of the provincial elections in 1972. As a result, the IOC gave the games to Innsbruck. Construction on a new, combined track was started in 1973 under the auspices of the International Bobsleigh and Tobogganing Federation (FIBT) and the International Luge Federation (FIL) and completed the following year. The track was praised by the FIL during testing in 1975 and proved so successful that it fostered a commission with the FIBT and the FIL on construction of combination tracks in 1977 that continues to this day. (Known as homologation, an example of this dual certification process occurred prior to the 2006 Winter Olympics, when adjustments to the track at Cesana Pariol were made following FIL concerns about the run.) The track added a restaurant and was extended in 1981. It hosted the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton events for the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics.

Statistics

The track has a vertical drop of 98.1 meters.

The 1964 Winter Olympic bobsleigh track, designed by former bobsledder and luger Paul Aste, consisted of 14 turns with a total length of 1506.36 meters, a vertical drop of 138 meters, and a maximum grade of 14.04%.

The 1964 Winter Olympic luge track, designed by former bobsledder and luger Paul Aste, consisted of 18 turns with a total length of 1063.76 meters for men singles and a vertical drop of 113.20 meters, and a maximum grade of 18.18%. For women's singles and men's doubles, the length was 910.00 meters with a vertical drop of 86.27 meters

Turns 1–3, 8-10, 14, and 15 have no names listed in the track diagram.

Championships hosted

• 1964 Winter Olympics
• 1976 Winter Olympics
• 2012 Winter Youth Olympics
• FIBT World Championships: 1935 (two-man), 1963,
• FIL European Luge Championships: 1990
• FIL World Luge Championships: 1977, 1987, 1997, 2007, 2017

References

References

1. It hosted the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton competitions for the [[2012 Winter Youth Olympics]].[http://www.innsbruck2012.com/upload/multifile/1213882906.pdf 2012 Winter Youth Games venue listings in bid packages.] - accessed 2 June 2010.
2. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071215005310/http://www.olympia-innsbruck.at/OW_ENG/C/C520.php History of the Igls bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track]
3. [http://sports123.com/bob/mw-2.html Bobsleigh two-man world championship medalists since 1931] {{webarchive. link. (2007-09-29)
4. [https://web.archive.org/web/20081222103350/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,829916,00.html ''Time'' magazine February 15, 1963 article on the 1964 bobsleigh track competition that lead to safety changes on the track]
5. Wallechinsky, David and Jaime Loucky (2009). "Luge (Tobaggan): Men". In ''The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics: 2010 Edition''. London: Aurum Press Limited. p. 168.
6. "Luge and Olympism." December 1983. p. 854.
7. "Bobsleigh and Olympism." ''Olympic Review''. December 1984. p. 1012.
8. "FIBT President Storey and FIL President Fendt: "Olympic Track Summitt" in Berchtesgaden".
9. "2006 Olympic Track in Cesana Pariol homologated by FIL.".
10. [http://www.fil-luge.org/tracks/artificial-tracks.html List of artificial tracks used] - Click on Igls link for popup
11. "Rohbock Wins Women's Bob Finale; Martini Takes European Crowd.".
12. From results shown from the FIL World Cup event during 28–29 November 2009 from live track results.
13. "Rommel Overtakes Tretiakov in Igls Skeleton".
14. "Rudman Wins Women's Skeleton World Cup in Igls".
15. [[FIBT World Championships 1991. 1991]] (men's skeleton), [[FIBT World Championships 1993. 1993]] (bobsleigh), [[FIBT World Championships 2000. 2000]] (skeleton), [[FIBT World Championships 2016. 2016]][http://sports123.com/ske/mw.html FIBT men's skeleton world championships results since 1989] {{webarchive. link. (2007-09-29)
16. [http://sports123.com/lug/me-s.html FIL European Luge Championships men's singles results since 1914] {{webarchive. link. (2006-11-15)
17. [http://sports123.com/lug/mw-s.html FIL World Luge Championships men's single results since 1955] {{webarchive. link. (2007-12-18)