Although the sled has been around for centuries as a means of transportation, the sport of bobsleigh didn't begin until the late 19th century when the Swiss attached a steering mechanism to a toboggan. By 1914, bobsled races were taking place on a wide variety of natural ice courses. The first racing sleds were made of wood but were soon replaced by steel sleds that came to be known as bobsleds, so named because of the way crews bobbed back and forth to increase their speed on the straightaways.

In 1923, the Fédération internationale de bobsleigh et de tobogganing (FIBT) was founded and the following year a four man race took place at the first ever Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France. A two-man event was added at the 1932 Olympics in Lake Placid, U.S.A., a format that has remained to the present. There was no such thing as training. Competitors simply bought or rented a sled, started out as a rider and then took the wheel after a few runs.

By the 1950s, however, the sport as we know it today had begun to take shape. As the critical importance of the start was recognized, strong, fast athletes in other sports were drawn to bobsledding. Track and field competitors, handballers, gymnasts and others who could deliver a vigorous push at the start were much sought after. In 1952, a critical rule change limiting the total weight of crew and sled ended the era of the super heavyweight bobsledder and sealed the future of the sport as an athletic contest of the highest caliber. More athletic crews went hand-in-hand with advances in sleds and tracks. Today, the world's top teams train year-round and compete mostly on artificial ice tracks in sleek high-tech sleds made of fiberglass and steel.

Apart from the British influence in the sport's infancy, a strong U.S. presence from 1928 to 1956, and recent advances by other countries, bobsledding has been dominated largely by Europe's alpine nations over the years. By far the most successful bobsledding nations have been Switzerland and Germany. The Swiss have won more medals in Olympic, World and European championships and World Cup competitions than any other nation. East Germany emerged as the sport's major power in the mid 1970s with its emphasis on sled design and construction. Since reunification, German bobsledders have remained a formidable group, winning numerous Olympic medals and World Championship titles since 1990. Italy also has a long and successful track record in the sport, particularly from the mid 1950s to late 1960s, and Austria has had its shining moments. From the small core of alpine nations who originally embraced bobsledding, the sport has since expanded around the world to include countries such as Jamaica, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and of course Ireland. Although the traditional bobsleigh powers remain strong, other nations have begun to show their strength. At the 1995 World Championships in Winterberg, no fewer than eight nations placed in the top ten in the four-man event while seven nations were represented in the top ten of the two-man competition. This shows that there is hope yet for Ireland.