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The 40 Best Skeleton Helmets Worn At The Olympics In The Last 20 Years

One of the low-key best parts of the Olympics: the skeleton helmets.

Skeleton was reintroduced at the Olympic Games in 2002, and that year, Jim Shea spawned a trend: cool-ass helmets.

Jim on the skeleton track wearing an eagle helmet

The gold medal winner wore an eagle helmet, and ever since, helmets at the games have been getting more and more intricate.

a closeup of the eagle helmet

Sooo, because this is becoming more and more of a thing, I thought it'd be fun to look at the best helmets from the last 20 years.

Without further ado, my ranking of the 40 best helmets:

40. Ireland's Sean Greenwood, Sochi 2014

it's a psychedelic moose

39. Poland's Monika Wolowiec, Turin 2006

Monika's helmet features a menacing skull

38. USA's John Daly, Sochi 2014

John's helmet has an ombre metallic effect

37. Australia's Jackie Narracott, Pyeongchang 2018

it's green with yellow stars

36. Australia's Shaun Boyle, Turin 2006

Shaun's helmet features a coat of arms and the Australian flag on either side

35. Japan's Hiroatsu Takahashi, Pyeongchang 2018

A closeup if the multi-colored helmet with diamond shapes throughout

34. Canada's Jon Montgomery, Vancouver 2010

A closeup of a black and white intricate design

33. Austria's Raphael Maier, Sochi 2014:

a closeup of the two-toned grid-like helmet

32. Australia's John Farrow, Sochi 2014

John's monochrome helmet has multiple six-point stars at the top

31. Russia's Elena Nikitina, World Cup 2018

Elena's helmet is painted to look like a head with a wide smile showing off teeth

30. USA's Katie Uhlaender, Sochi 2014

she's in head to toe red white and blue with an eagle helmet

29. Greece's Alexandros Kefalas, Sochi 2014

28. Russia's Olga Potylitsina, Sochi 2014

Olga's helmet has Wile E. Coyote

27. Belgium's Kim Meylemans, Beijing 2022

Kim's helmet is a collage of words like joy, fun, open mind, and love

26. Japan's Kazuhiro Koshi, Vancouver 2010

the helmet has a dragon on the side

25. Spain's Ander Mirambell, Beijing 2022

Ander's helmet features multiple lines crossing each other in a futuristic pattern

24. Italy's Amedeo Bagnis, Beijing 2022

Amedeo's helmet has the Joker on it along with "Ha, ha, ha" written next to the image

23. Russia's Yulia Kanakina, Beijing 2022

it's a pink swirl

22. South Korea's Nathan Crumpton, Beijing 2022

it's a skull with blue teeth

21. China's Yin Zheng, Beijing 2022

it's red with a chinese pattern on it

20. Canada's Elisabeth Vathje, Pyeongchang 2018

it's flannel with a moose and maple leaf

19. Australia's Lucy Chaffer, Sochi 2014

Lucy's helmet sports a large dragonfly

18. Canada's Mirela Rahneva, Pyeongchang 2018

Mirela's helmet sports a moose

17. Brazil's Nicole Rocha Silveira, Beijing 2022

Nicole's helmet has a large parrot

16. Australia's Nicholas Timmings, Beijing 2022

it looks like a frozen lady

15. Canada's Jane Channell, Pyeongchang 2018

it looks like a rib cage

And here's another view:

a closeup of the ribcage helmet

14. USA's Megan Henry, World Cup 2022

it's an eyeball and green

13. Canada's Mellisa Hollingsworth, Vancouver 2010

Mellisa's helmet has the skeleton of a horse

12. Japan's Shinsuke Tayama, Vancouver 2010

it's a unicorn

11. Canada's Barrett Martineau, Pyeongchang 2018

it's a polar bear

10. Puerto Rico's Kellie Delka, Beijing 2022

it's a big eye ball and what looks like the moon above it

9. Canada's Kevin Boyer, Pyeongchang 2018

it's a face with large teeth

8. Italy's Joseph Luke Cecchini, Pyeongchang 2018

it's a flaming skull

7. Canada's Jeff Pain, Vancouver 2010

Jeff's helmet features a large beaver

6. Korea's Sungbin Yun, Pyeongchang 2018

it's an ironman helmet

5. Romania's Maria Marinela Mazilu, Pyeongchang 2018

The helmet has large vampire teeth

And the top view.

it's a face

4. Ghana's Akwasi Frimpong, Pyeongchang 2018

his helmet has a tiger eating a rabbit on it

And here's a closeup:

3. Canada's Eric Neilson, Sochi 2014

Eric rocking a stylized skull helmet

2. Canada's John Fairbairn, Sochi 2014

John's helmet is a neon brain

And here's a look from the side:

the brain helmet from the side

1. Canada's Sarah Reid, Sochi 2014

Sarah's helmet features a stylized face peering out from behind several leaves

And here's a look at it in action:

Sarah starting her heat