Serious bobsleighing
Sir: I wonder if Mr Simon Courtauld's remarks about bobsleighing in the `Notebook' (18 February) were intended to be taken seriously?
If when present at Igls in 1964 he had troubled to inquire of one of the four-man drivers if the contribution of Nos. 2 and 3 was of value (a naive question to be sure, but one which Mr Courtauld should evidently have asked, nevertheless) he would have received an emphatic 'yes' in response. A four-man sled is more easily kept on line, once started, than a two-man sled. The speed of the start is correspondingly more important and might well make all the difference between a medal and the tenth place which so narrowly escapes Mr Courtauld's contempt.
The middle men and the brakesman (who does not, in fact, do any braking during a competitive descent) provide the main impetus the driver needs to climb aboard more quickly. It is quite true that this expenditure of effort occupies less than 10 seconds but is that not true of ski-jumpers, pole-vaulters and (nearly) of 100 metre sprinters, to name but a few? 'Middle' men need to be muscular, well co-ordinated and capable of running very fast on ice. 'Easy?', Mr Courtauld?
J. V. Ropner
140 Coniscliffe Road, Darlington, Co Durham
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