Christina Smith chuckles when she thinks about the early days of women's bobsleigh in the mid-1990s. Back then, Canada's top female bob pilot and a handful of die-hard bobsledders paid their own way overseas to ride the world's best tracks.

Women did whatever it took to participate in the male-dominated sport. They stayed in German army barracks instead of hotels. They ate in mess halls and bartered for equipment use with maple syrup, Neo Citron and other Canadian delicacies.

"I remember renting a bobsleigh in exchange for buying a watch in Switzerland for one of the guys," Smith recalls. "Back then, it was like, 'Hey that was a good deal.'"

Funding and equipment were hard to come by. So women bobsleigh athletes did what it took to fuel their passion for a sport that didn't want them for over half a century. At the same time, male bob pilots attained hero-worship status in European Alpine nations -- the type Canadians reserve for NHL hockey players.

Hockey, boxing, soccer and other traditionally male-dominated sports began opening their doors to women before the icy runs of bobsleigh. To the amazement of many, it's taken until the year 2002 to have women's bobsleigh debut as an Olympic event.

The journey has been long and not entirely lined with yellow bricks.

The early years
Women participated in bobsleigh's early days when five or six-person crews required at least one female athlete. The rule was abandoned in the early 1930s, abruptly ending women's involvement in the sport for over 50 years.

Bobsleigh remained almost exclusively a male domain until the 1980s. The construction of the artificial track at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary for the 1988 Winter Games was an important step in piquing interest in women's bobsleigh both at home and abroad.

Sigi Feuser, a coach with Canada's women's program, was an early pioneer in the sport. In 1989, she took a tour bob ride with top Canadian pilot Chris Lori on a friend's recommendation. Feuser was hooked, intrigued by the speed and the challenge of conquering the elements. The adrenaline rush of controlling a hurtling sled down an ice canal proved ultra-addictive.

But the sport's inherent dangers weren't the biggest stumbling block faced by Feuser in those early days at the Calgary track. Her biggest challenge was proving to the guys she could cut it in bobsleigh.

Earning respect
Both Feuser and Smith believe the heavy sleds were one of the main obstacles holding women back for so many years. This may seem absurd to a bobsleigh outsider. However, hauling sleds is a daily necessity in the sport. The first Canadian women bobsleigh athletes earned the respect of their male counterparts by getting together to move the 220-kilogram sleds while soaking up as much knowledge about the sport as possible.

"You had to prove yourself to the men," says Smith. "First of all, that you could handle the sport in all aspects, not just driving or pushing, but also hauling and doing the grunt work behind the scenes."

Feuser heard detractors in the background from some European competitors. Women should be at home making babies and cleaning the house, they were told. She refused to listen to such nonsense.

"The initial group of women that endured (thought) well, you can cram it," says Feuser. "We're like a bad rash. We're not going away."

The first group of Canadian women bobsleigh athletes commanded respect, and they earned it.

"It was hard work. All types of women entered the sport," says Feuser. "Some were interested in the glory, not work, and they didn't last long because you always had to prove yourself 10-fold. You had to earn respect and keep doing it. It just made that core group stronger."

Smith agrees. "Once I proved to them that I was competent and that I didn't ask for help or need help, then they respected me for my abilities and my determination," she says.

Let the races begin
International competitions became the next logical step as more women began taking up the sport. Susan Calvert, currently director of Canada's women's program, entered men's races in Calgary in the late 1980s. Not surprisingly, she finished near the bottom of the pack since the playing field wasn't exactly level.

Most other amateur sports had separate competitions for men and women. As the 1990s began, bobsleigh had yet to reach that point. Former Canadian bobsleigh coach Malcolm Lloyd played a large role in organizing the first international women's event. Lloyd, originally from Britain, joined together with colleagues from his home country to arrange a women-only competition at the British junior bobsleigh championships in Winterberg, Germany in 1990.

It was a giant leap in the right direction, but women still had much to overcome in the sport. Bobsleigh Canada, this country's official federation, allowed women to borrow equipment and offered moral support. However, the organization was unable to provide financial assistance to the sliders for travel or sled purchases.

Women athletes had to get by on their own. "Duct tape was our best friend," says Feuser of the resourcefulness women relied on in leaner times.

Due to the financial shortfalls, women bobsledders rented somewhat dodgy equipment and suffered from a lack of coaching resources. A lot of their track savvy was self-taught, the result of many bumps and bruises along the way. The FIBT, bobsleigh's international governing body, was also slow to approve of women in the sport.

"There were comments from the governing body of bobsleigh that women were three seconds slower," says Feuser.

"Well, a tenth at the top means three-tenths at the bottom, and we're pushing equipment heavier than the men are, and they outweigh us almost by double. So chances are pretty good we'd be slower at the top."

Unfazed, Canadian athletes continued to seek out women in other countries and urged them to try the sport. The campaign worked. Great Britain, Switzerland, Germany and even a Latvian sled joined on.

Increased funding and a louder lobbying voice were secured when the Americans jumped aboard, according to Feuser. The snowball kept rolling and growing. Calgary began hosting women's races in 1992, followed by Igls, Austria in 1993. Soon most of the major international tracks had a women's competition.

A dream fulfilled
The biggest moment in women's bobsleigh history to date came on Oct. 2, 1999 when the International Olympic Committee confirmed women's bobsleigh would be an official medal sport at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. It was the most exciting day of Feuser's life.

"I happened to be sitting with one of the other original people that was fighting for this to happen," says Feuser. "I said, 'If I never see another bobsled again, that would be OK. As long as they keep fighting.'"

The thrill still hasn't completely sunk in with Smith. "When I look at all these people that are going to the Olympics or that have gone to the Olympics, I put them on such a high pedestal," says Smith. "Only a select few get this far, and I can't believe it's going to happen to me."

Feuser is justly proud of Canada's important role in women's bobsleigh history.

"I think it gave the women here in Canada an awesome opportunity to strive for something. It was a big factor that it was here and that the Canadian people aren't as narrow-minded and chauvinistic."

The future
Women's bobsleigh continues to grow at a rapid pace. There are over 30 teams from 18 countries competing on the World Cup circuit, which started in 1999, and the first women's world championship was held in February, 2000. Alongside traditional bob countries, like Germany and Switzerland, are crews from New Zealand, Jamaica and Ireland.

More nations are participating and injecting funds into women's training and sled design since the sport gained Olympic status. The top nations are dabbling in Formula-1 and NASCAR-style technology. Athletes from other disciplines, mainly sprinters and lugers, have begun revolutionizing the sport. In fact, the top three medal contenders in the first Olympic women's bobsleigh competition in Salt Lake are former lugers: Germans Sandra Prokoff and Susi Erdmann (a two-time Olympic luge medallist) and American Jean Racine, who won the 2000-2001 Wold Cup championship. The result is bigger, stronger and faster crews pushing less dead weight at the always critical start.

"It's amazing the amount of help we're getting from increased coaching, sponsors, track time, shipping of sleds etc. since becoming an Olympic sport," says Smith. "Now it's official, more people want a part of it."