On the Fast Track

It’s been six years since Geng Wenqiang hopped from his long jump career into one in skeleton racing, the sport in which a person rides a small sled, known as a skeleton bobsled, plummeting head-first down a frozen track—while lying face down. His selection for China’s Skeleton Team in 2015 made him one of the earliest Chinese skeleton athletes.

Prior to his switch, Geng had been a long jumper for nine years, with his personal best the gold medal at the 2015 University Games in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. That same year, on July 31, Beijing won the bid for the Olympic