Winter speed demons (and curlers, too)

A downhill skier vs. a bobsled? A comically dressed curler vs. a brawny hockey

player? Sure, each sport is dierent — some more graceful, others more death SOCHI AVERAGE ic) SPEE ital D (ev D ( ents defying, and all performed in varying conditions — but all share something PEE thr S oug GE h W A ed in common: the need for speed. e Washington Post analyzed the ER ne V sd A ay speeds of all major disciplines represented in the Sochi ) Olympics. is is how far and how fast an athlete typically travels per second:

S now bo ar d c ro ss , 35 31 37 m mph m p ph h 37 feet per second 54 feet TOP SPEED: TOTAL DISTANCE TRAVELED PER SECOND 25 mph per second 37 mph 29 feet Cr. country per second MEN 20 mph

S k 15-16mph i

j u 73 feet m

p

i per second n

g

Capitol , DOWNHILL SKIER 16 feet 50 mph 5 per second 0

m

p

SKELETON 11 mph Johan Clarey, a h FOUR-MAN BOBSLED/LUGE French alpine skier, 6.5 mph

h

hit 101 mph while compet- p

m

7

ing in a 2013 World Cup downhill 5 h

p SKI JUMPER/SNOWBOARDFREESTYLE CROSSSKI CROSS 88 feet m SPEED SKATER event. At that speed, he could rocket 8 per second 5 Once released, from the U.S. Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial the curling stone 60 mph averages about — a distance of about two miles — in 1 minute FIGURE SKATER Ski jumper’s speed CURLER 3 to 4 mph. 11 seconds. A curler, gliding across ice, would take nearly at takeoff

Luge h CROSS-COUNTRY SKIER/HOCKEY PLAYER 11 minutes. A person walking at 4.5 mph would seemingly p m

3 take an eternity in comparison, nearly 30 minutes. 6 148 feet per second 101 mph 134 feet 125 feet per second per second Nearly 29 times faster than a curling stone 91 mph 85 mph

METHODOLOGY

Top and average speeds for downhill skiing, bobsled, luge, skeleton, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, speedskating, freestyle skicross and snowboard cross are based on World Cup results from the 2013-14 season. Speeds at which hockey players skate are based on analysis of the National Hockey League’s fastest skater competition and game footage of women’s competition. Average speeds for curling are also calculated based on game footage. e average speed for figure skaters could not be determined; however, skaters need to be going about 20 mph to successfully land a quadruple jump, the most dicult element.

31 m ph

31 m ph

29 m ph 4 4 m 50 feet p 29 feet per second h per second 34 mph WOMEN 20 mph 66 feet

B

per second o b

s

l 45 mph e 13 mph d ,

5

6

5

m LUGE Union 4

81 feet p Station m h per second p h BOBSLED/DOWNHILL SKIER 5

5

SKELETON 11 feet 55 mph m p

per second h D

SKI JUMPER 82 feet o

8 mph A Belgian and Swiss w n

per second h

i

l

l

bobsled team each topped out 6.6 mph 56 mph SNOWBOARD CROSS at 86 mph on the St. Moritz track

h FREESTYLE SKI CROSS in Switzerland this season. At that speed, p SPEEDSKATER m

0 6 and without delay, their bobsled could fly through , g n CURLER i Metro’s Red Line tube from Union Station to Metro i k s

l l i Center in less than a minute, arriving more than two minutes h Metro n Center w earlier than a Metro train running at an average speed o D of 26 mph through that same stretch.

CROSS COUNTRY SKIER/FIGURE SKATER/HOCKEY PLAYER 122 feet per second

NOTE: Cross-country speeds are on the flats only. Isaac Wilson, Amer Nordic commercial 83 mph manager for Salomon and Atomic Skis, reports that both men and women are surpassing 123 feet 50 mph on the downhill in Sochi, one of the fastest downhills in international competition. per second Sources: International Ski Federation; International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation; International Luge Federation; World Curling Federation; International Biathlon Union; 126 feet 84 mph International Skating Union, speedskatingresults.com; speedskatingstats.com; National per second Hockey League; zoegillings.com; Montana State University-Bozeman; sta reports TODD LINDEMAN/THE WASHINGTON POST 86 mph