Skeleton, Men

The skeleton races were scheduled for Thursday February 16, but the weather conditions were poor, with a warm spell, like the two days before. Eventually they were held on Friday, starting at eight in the morning, to avoid the morning sun melting too much of the ice. Although 18 sliders entered, only 10 eventually competed.

Favorite for the victory was the British Earl of Northesk, John Carnegie. In the week prior to the Olympic competition, Earl Northesk had first broken the track record (lowering it to 58.5 seconds), and then won the prestigious Grand National – the most important Cresta Run event. However, in the first run of the competition he made a major mistake and broke one of his brakes, losing precious seconds. The other British entry, John Cuthbert Moore, 1st Baron Brabazon of Tara, was also highly considered but fell off his sled at the Shuttlecock curve only 2 days before the Olympic event started, broke several ribs, and cut his face badly. He did not start. With Northesk behind, the two American Heaton brothers could decide the title between them, with Jennison eventually taking the gold and Jack the silver. Jack Heaton did quite well when one considers he was hampered by a broken wrist he had sustained only a few weeks before the Olympic race. Two of the ten competitors crashed, the Frenchman Pierre Dormeuil and Swiss Willy von Eschen both left the course involuntarily.