LAKE PLACID, NY: American Matt Antoine competes during second run of the the skeleton competition during the FIBT Skeleton World Championships at the Olympic Complex, February 27, 2009.

Basics
In 2002, skeleton returned to the Olympic program for the first time since 1948. There are two events, men's and women's. Women's skeleton is being contested for the third time (2002 was the first). Men's skeleton was contested in 1928 and 1948, both times the Winter Games were held in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and in 2002 and 2006. In both events the competitors speed down the course while lying face first on a one-person sled.