Bobsleigh

The Whistler Sliding Centre will be home to one of the fastest-moving Olympic Sports at the 2010 Games. Bobsleigh kicks off on February 20th, 2010.

Canada's second home-ice sliding track has already proven to be of great interest to Whistler residents - bears have been caught checking out the track during test events.

Although the most successful nations on the bobsleigh track have traditionally been Switzerland and Germany, Canada could earn its first women's bobsleigh medal in Olympic history.

Canadian pilot Helen Upperton finished the 2008 World Cup season in third place and got off to a solid start in the most recent season with two gold-medal finishes.

To get on the podium in 2010, however, Upperton's team will have to surpass some stiff competition. As a competitor, Sandra Kiriasis has been almost unstoppable. The German pilot finished the 2008 season at the top of the charts and went a near-perfect five-for-five podium finishes to start the most recent season. If she can stay healthy going in to 2010, she'll be tough to beat.

On the men's side, the top pilot in 2010 could be Germany's Angre Lange. Ranked first going into 2009 in the four-man division and second in the two-man, Lange himself has already piloted his way to three Olympic gold medals: two in the four-man and one in the two-man event.

For Canada, Pierre Lueders will be trying for a repeat medal performance. While he won the silver in the two-man event in 2006 with brakeman Lascelles Brown, Lueders has slipped in the standings of late. In the 2007-2008 season, he finished in seventh place overall.