Aerodynamic tuck: The body position an athlete adopts while on the sled to minimize air resistance

Ballast: Weight added to the sled to make sure it is at a fair weight

Belly: The bottom section of a track's curve

Cresta: The forerunner to the sport of skeleton, it was organized in the Swiss town of St. Moritz in the 1880s and is believed to be the world’s first sliding sport. The Cresta Run still exists and is owned by the British-run Cresta Club. Skeleton was contested on the Cresta Run at the 1928 and 1948 Winter Games.

FIBT: Federation Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing, the former name of the IBSF

G-force: Short for gravitational force, it is the force caused by an acceleration equal to the acceleration caused by gravity. In skeleton, the strongest G-forces are generated going around severe turns. Athletes can feel a force of several “Gs” coming around the sharp, banked turns.

Grooves: Two straight hollows in the ice in the starting area ensuring sleds begin a run in a straight line.

Heat: A single run down a skeleton track during a race. A race generally is made up of two or more heats. Olympic races consist of four heats. Also known as a run.

High line: A route that takes the sled close to the top lip of a turn

IBSF: The international governing body of skeleton and bobsleigh. Stands for “International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation.”

Kreisel: German for circle; a curve that forms a circle by having the track cross itself

Labyrinth: A combination of small curves on a track with little or no straightaway between them; a labyrinth usually consists of three to four curves

Line: The route a sled takes down the track

Low line: A route that takes a sled closer to the lower edge of the track around a turn

Omega curve: From above, the curve resembles the Greek letter Omega

Push bar: The handle used for pushing the sled at the start 

Push start: The initial phase of the race where the athlete generates momentum

Runners: The solid pieces of steel on which the sled rides

S-curve: Two turns that run in alternate directions

Skeleton: A name for the sled used in the sport

Slider: A skeleton athlete

Toboggan: A rarely used term for the sled used in skeleton