BEIJING, China — There are seven new Olympic events in the Winter Games this year. One of the events includes monobob, an individual version of bobsleigh exclusive to women at this year's games.
Bobsleigh is going solo.
Monobob gets its name from the Greek term 'mónos.' The female-only sport added to the games "will increase female participation in Olympic bobsleigh, joining the two-woman competition," according to a report from the Olympics.
As an individual sport, monobob competitors will take on the roles of pushing, driving and breaking in a sled that weighs over 350 pounds. In a two or four-person race the responsibilities are divided.
Canadian bobsleigh athlete Cynthia Appiah told Olympics.com that she's looking forward to the solo competition to test the individual athletes.
"A huge plus of mono is that you are your own person. If you mess up, it is completely on you," Appiah said.
Monobob adds another event for women to earn medals at the games. It wasn't long ago that women first began competing in Olympic bobsleigh events at Salt Lake City Utah 2002. The bobsleigh event has been a part of the Olympic Games since 1932.
While this is the second bobsleigh event for women, the men already have two events, the four-man and two-man bobsleigh.
Athletes to keep an eye out for this Olympic Games include USA's Kaillie Humphries, who is a two-time Olympic two-woman bobsleigh champion, and USA's Elana Meyers Taylor. She won the overall World Monobob Series in 2021-2022.
Top athletes competing from other countries consist of Canadians Cynthia Appiah, Christine de Bruin and Australian bobsleigh athlete, Breeana Walker.
The women's monobob competition begins at 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 13 in Beijing. Locally, that means you can catch the event for breakfast at 8:30 a.m.
