请看冬奥会官方网站上的介绍： Considered the world's first sliding sport, skeleton was started in the Swiss town of St. Moritz in the late 1800s. The first competition was held in 1884.It wasn't until 1887 that riders began competing in the prone² position used today. The sport received its name in 1892, when a new sled made mostly of metal was introduced. People thought it looked like a skeleton.

　　俯式冰撬最早流传于北欧。它是以雪橇为工具，借助起滑的惯性，从山坡沿专门构筑的冰道快速滑降的一种运动项目。比赛中，运动员采用俯卧姿势，头部在前，以皮靴防滑钉控制运动方向。冰橇运动的开始过程与雪橇运动相同。句中说，因为运动员的装束与状态像一架骷髅，此项体育竞赛于1892年正式命名为skeleton。