Winter Olympic Events

Ice Sports Events

Bobsled - Bobsleigh, bobsled or bobsledge is a winter sport invented by Englishmen in the late 1860s in which teams make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled. The various types of sleds came several years before the first tracks were built in St Moritz, where the original bobsleds were adapted upsized Luge/Skeleton sleds designed by the adventurously wealthy to carry passengers. All three types were adapted from boys delivery sleds and toboggans. Competition naturally followed, and to protect the working class and rich visitors in the streets and byways of St Moritz, hotel owner Caspar Badrutt, owner of the historic Krup Hotel and the later Palace Hotel, built the first familiarly configured ‘half-pipe’ track circa 1870. It has hosted the sports during two Olympics and is still in use today.
Luge - A luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine and feet-first. Steering is done by flexing the sled’s runners with the calf of each leg or exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Luge is also the name of the sport which involves racing with such sleds. It is a competition in which these sleds race against a timer. Luge, like the skeleton, and the bobsled, originated in the health-spa town of St Moritz, Switzerland, in the mid-to-late nineteenth century, through the endeavours of hotel entrepreneur Caspar Badrutt.
Skeleton - Skeleton is a winter sport in which competitors aim to drive a one-person sled in a prone, head-first position down an ice track in the fastest time. This differs from luge, where the rider drives the sled from a supine, feet-first orientation. Top speeds attained in skeleton-approximately 130 km/h (80 mph)-are slightly slower than in luge. One of the oldest competitive sledding sports in the world, this Olympic sport is known in some parts of the world as tobogganing. It takes its name from the stripped-down sled, which originally was a bare frame, like a skeleton. There is also a theory about the name that it is a mispronunciation of the Norwegian word kjelke (”sled”, “luge”). Skeleton originated as a spin-off from the popular British sport of Cresta Sledding in St. Moritz, Switzerland. While Skeleton “sliders” use similar equipment to Cresta “riders”, the two sports are different and should not be confused.
Ice hockey - Ice hockey, often referred to simply as hockey, is a team sport played on ice. It is a fast paced and physical sport. Ice hockey is most popular in areas that are sufficiently cold for natural, reliable seasonal ice cover, though with the advent of indoor artificial ice rinks it has become a year-round pastime at the amateur level in major metropolitan areas such as cities that host a National Hockey League (NHL) or other professional-league team.
Figure skating - Figure skating is an athletic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level (senior), and at local, national, and international competitions. The International Skating Union (ISU) regulates international figure skating judging and competitions. Figure skating is an official event in the Winter Olympic Games. In languages other than English, figure skating is usually referred to by a name that translates as “artistic skating”. Major international competitions are sanctioned by the ISU. These include the Winter Olympic Games, the World Championships, the World Junior Figure Skating Championships, the European Figure Skating Championships, the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, and the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating.
Speed skating - Speed skating or speedskating is a competitive form of skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speedskating are long track speedskating, short track speedskating, inline speedskating (or inline racing), marathon speed skating and quad speed skating. In the Olympic Games, long track speedskating is usually referred to as just speedskating, while short track speedskating is known as short track. The ISU, governing body of both ice sports, refers to long track as “speed skating” and short track as “short track speed skating”.
Short track speed skating - Short track speed skating (also Shorttrack speedskating) is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a circumference of 111.12 m. The rink itself is 60 m by 30 m, which is the same size as an international-sized hockey rink. Short track speed skating originated in the speed skating events held with mass starts. This form of speed skating was mainly practiced in the United States and Canada, as opposed to the international form, where skaters skated in pairs. At the 1932 Winter Olympics, speed skating events were conducted in the mass start form. Competitions in North America were also held indoors, for example in Madison Square Garden, New York, and therefore on shorter tracks than was usual for outdoor skating.
Curling - Curling is a team sport with similarities to bowls and shuffle board, played by two teams of four players each on a rectangular sheet of carefully prepared ice. Teams take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones down the ice towards the target (which is called the house). Two sweepers with brooms accompany each rock and use timing equipment and their best judgment along with direction from their other teammates to help direct the stones to their resting place. The complex nature of stone placement and shot selection has led some to refer to curling as “chess on ice”.

Alpine, Skiing and Snowboarding Events

Alpine -Alpine skiing (or downhill skiing) is a recreational activity and sport involving sliding down snow-covered hills with long skis attached to each foot. Alpine skiing evolved from cross-country skiing when ski lift infrastructure was developed at mountain resorts to tow skiers back to the top of slopes, thus making it possible to repeatedly enjoy skiing down steep, long slopes that would be otherwise tiring to climb. The sport is popular wherever the combination of snow, mountain slopes, and a sufficient tourist infrastructure can be built up, including parts of Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, the South America Andes, and East Asia.
Freestyle - Freestyle skiing began in the 1930s, when Norwegian skiers began performing acrobatics during alpine and cross-country training. Later, non-competitive professional skiing exhibitions in the United States featured performances of what would later be called freestyle. Aerial skiing was developed in about 1950 by Olympic gold medalist Stein Eriksen. Freestyle skiing began to develop further throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s, when it was often known as “hot-dogging.” Bob Burns pioneered this style in Sun Valley, Idaho beginning in 1965. In the late 1960s other followers of the style included Wayne Wong, John Clendenin, and Tom LeRoy. Some people thought that this style of skiing was too dangerous and did not want it to be an Olympic sport. The free-form sport had few rules and wasn’t without danger; knee injuries became a common phenomenon for professional freestylers.
Snowboarding - Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a snow-covered slope on a snowboard attached to a participant’s feet using a special boot set into a mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by surfing and skateboarding, and the sport shares superficial similarities with skiing. It was developed in the United States in the 1960s and the 1970s and became a Winter Olympic Sport in 1998. The first modern snowboard was arguably the Snurfer (a portmanteau of snow and surfer), originally designed by Sherman Poppen for his children in 1965 in Muskegon, Michigan. Poppen’s Snurfer started to be manufactured as a toy the following year. It was essentially a skateboard without wheels, steered by a hand-held rope, and lacked bindings, but had provisions to cause footwear to adhere. During the 1970s and 1980s as snowboarding became more popular, pioneers such as Dimitrije Milovich, Jake Burton Carpenter (founder of Burton Snowboards from Londonderry, Vermont), Tom Sims (founder of Sims Snowboards) and Mike Olson (GNU Snowboards) came up with new designs for boards and mechanisms that had slowly developed into the snowboards and other related equipment that we know today.

Nordic Events

Biathlon - Biathlon (not to be confused with duathlon) is a term used to describe any sporting event made up of two disciplines. However, biathlon usually refers specifically to the winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. Another popular variant is summer biathlon, which combines cross-country running with riflery. The sport has its origins in an exercise for Norwegian soldiers, as an alternative training for the military. The world’s first known ski club, the “Trysil Rifle and Ski Club”, was formed in Norway in 1861 to promote national defense at the local level. Called military patrol, the combination of skiing and shooting was contested at the Olympic Winter Games in 1924, and then demonstrated in 1928, 1936, and 1948, but did not regain Olympic recognition then, as the small number of competing countries disagreed on the rules (see also Governing body, below). During the mid-1950s, however, biathlon was introduced into the Russian and Swedish winter sport circuits and was widely enjoyed by the public. This new-found popularity aided the effort of having biathlon gain entry into the Winter Olympics, where it has later become one of the most cherished sports.
Cross country skiing -Cross-country skiing (also known as XC skiing) is a winter sport popular in many countries with large snowfields, primarily Northern Europe, Canada and Alaska. The popularity of the sport has been quickly growing in the United States and in Australia. As a sport, cross-country skiing is one of the most difficult endurance sports, as its motions use every major muscle group and it (along with running, rowing and swimming) is one of the sports that burn the most calories per hour in execution. Modern cross-country ski competition is experiencing a revolution that is resulting in greater compatibility with audiences which began with the addition of the Sprint event to the World Cup and Olympic competitions. Today more and more races are being held in audience friendly formats, such as mass start, sprint, relay and pursuit (a race that involves switching skis and styles halfway through the race). The modern events in which athletes compete in at the World Cup and Olympics are (distances presented in Female/Male format): 1 km Sprint, 2X1 km Team Sprint, 10 km/15 km Individual Start, 15 km/30 km Pursuit, 30 km/50 km Mass Start, and 4×5 km/4×10 km Relay.
Ski jumping - Ski jumping is a sport in which skiers go down an “inrun” with a take-off ramp (the jump), attempting to go as far as possible. In addition to the length that skiers jump, judges give points for style. The skis used for ski jumping are wide and long (240 to 270 cm). Ski jumping is predominantly a winter sport, performed on snow, and is part of the Winter Olympic Games, but can also be performed in summer on artificial surfaces (porcelain or frost rail track on the inrun, plastic on the landing hill). Ski jumping originates from Morgedal, Norway, but the first proper competition was held in Trysil in 1862. The first widely known ski jumping competition was the Husebyrennene, held in Oslo from 1879. The annual event was moved to Holmenkollen from 1892, and Holmenkollen has remained the pinnacle of ski jumping venues.
Nordic combined - The Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in both cross-country skiing and ski jumping.