Skeleton is one of the fastest sports at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics. Here’s how the head-first sliding event works and who is competing for the U.S. (AP photo)

The British skeleton team - among Team GB's best hopes for medals at the Winter Olympics - will not be able to wear their new helmets after the Court of Arbitration for Sport said they do not comply with the sport's rules around shape.

Skeleton may slightly trail luge and bobsleigh in the sliding sport speed rankings but with its athletes' heads skimming only centimetres from a tunnel of ice, it creates a mix of fear and exhilaration that becomes an instant drug for many.

The bobsled, luge and skeleton are among the more popular Winter Olympics events, and while they have many similarities, there are key differences.

Skeleton made its Olympic debut at the 1928 Winter Games in Switzerland and became a permanent event in 2002 during the Games in Salt Lake City, Utah.

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Britain’s powerhouse skeleton team has lost its appeal to wear a newly designed helmet at the Milan Cortina Olympics, a decision that upholds the International Bobsled and Skeleton federation’s ruling that they were not compliant with current safety standards.

Here's who's calling the bobsled, luge and skeleton events during the 2026 Winter Olympics on NBC.

Ski mountaineering will make its Olympic debut this year, the first winter sport to do so since 2002. Skeleton, luge, ski jumping and moguls are also getting new events.

U.S. skeleton racer Katie Uhlaender's last chance to make the Olympic field may have been lost Monday, with the Court of Arbitration for Sport saying it lacks the jurisdiction to change the result of a race that could have earned her a berth in the Milan-Cortina Winter Games.