Sports Features in the Winter Olympics
Skiing has been around for thousands of years. But it wasn’t until the late 19th century that it became a sporting activity. Alpine skiing is downhill skiing on skis with fixed-heel bindings.
Biathlon is a winter sport that fuses cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. This sport was first introduced into the Olympic games as a men’s event in 1960. Women’s biathlon was introduced in 1992.
Bobsledding uses a steel sled and is steered by a crew of two or four people who bob back and forth to increase speed as they make their way down narrow, iced tracks.
First introduced into the Olympic games in 1924 as a men’s event. The women’s event debuted at the 1952 Oslo games. Cross country skiing requires the skier to rely on themselves to move across the snow instead of using ski lifts or any other assistance.
Curing is played on an ice rink, where players on a team slide stones toward a mark. The members of the team use brooms to sweep the ice on the path of the stone to control the speed and direction of the stone.
With choreographed patterns, jumps, and figures, skaters move across an ice rink to earn points for precision, level of difficulty, and aesthetics.
Freestyle skiing is just as it’s named, it’s a form of skiing comprised of aerials, cross, half-pipe, moguls, and slopestyle tricks. Skiers are judged on their precision and level of difficulty.
A contact sport, ice hockey is when two teams of six players attempt to get the hockey puck into their goal using an angled stick.
Luge is a sled designed for one or two people. In the Olympic games, the luge is when teams of two people sit feet-first and supine as they go down a frozen track—the same track used in the bobsledding competition.
A winter sport, the Nordic combined is when athletes compete in cross-country skiing and ski jumping.
A form of competitive ice speed skating, the short track requires multiple skaters to skate on an oval ice track.
Skeleton is an Olympic sport in which a person rides a small sled down a frozen track, all while lying face down. This sport is similar to the luge and the bobsleigh, but is unique in that it is a single rider event.
During the ski jumping event, a skier goes down an in-run then jumps, attempting to land as far as possible down the hill.
Snowboarding involves an individual to descend a snow-covered slope, while standing on a snowboard.
During this competition, ice skaters race against their opponents around an oval ice track.