Over the past few years, the fibreglass helmets used by skeleton riders have turned into Winter Olympics art pieces. Artists paint hockey goalie helmets, too, but those helmets are flawed canvases, pockmarked by holes, partly covered by screws and straps. Skeleton helmets, on the other hand, are as bald as bowling balls, made of fibreglass that artists can prime, airbrush-paint, sand, sand again and polish until they look like glass. A decade ago, most skeleton helmets were plain; in fact, they were not even designed for skeleton. But then, 2010 skeleton gold medallist Jon Montgomery said, the orb-like skeleton helmet was born — created from by a German craftsman in his basement.

Source: thestar February 16, 2018 20:26 UTC