The first official sketch and information on a new two-man bobsled that will be used by Team USA in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia thanks to the USA Bobsled & Skeleton Federation (USBSF), the sports official governing body in American and BMW of North America.

“This project was sparked by a request made by USBSF of BMW to assist the team in shoring up a technology gap specific to the innovation of the U.S. two-man sled,” said the Bavarian company’s North American arm in a statement. It then added “While Team USA achieved momentous success at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, winning a gold medal in a four-man bobsled event, the two-man Olympic gold is one that had eluded the U.S. since 1936.”

After examining the design and performance history of existing two-man sled platforms, one of which has been the default bobsled of Team USA for over two decades, BMW began their development last year. BMW has already delivered the first models to USBSF, which will test and refine them in the next year. The prototype model pairs lightweight materials with optimized aerodynamics and chassis dynamics to leverage the energy output of the two-man team.

“By bringing BMW in to provide its expertise, we see an opportunity to close an equipment gap between Team USA and countries that have historically led Olympic two-man bobsled competition,” said chief executive officer of USBSF, Darrin Steele.