WINTEROLYMPICEVENTS

THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF EVENTS:• ALPINE SKIING & SNOWBOARDING

• NORDIC

• ICE SPORTS

ALPINE SKIING

&

SNOWBOARDING

EVENTS

Alpine SkiingIn alpine skiing, racers can reach

speeds of more than 130 kilometres an hour, travelling

down a vertical drop and passing through a series of gates.

Skiers who miss a gate must then climb back up and go through the

missed gate or be disqualified.

Freestyle SkiingAerials

Speed is critical to successful aerial performances and athletes can choose two of many different jumps that combine back flips and twists with differing degrees of difficulty.

MogulsThe goal is to ski down the course as fast as possible.  Going down the moguls, skiers need to keep their upper bodies facing straight down the hill while their lower body and skis are constantly turning.

Ski CrossThe ski cross course, designed to test skiers’ skills, incorporates turns in a variety of types and sizes on rolls, banks and ridges similar to those found on a normal ski slope.

SnowboardingHalfpipe:

One snowboarder at a time performs a routine of acrobatic jumps, twists and tricks on the inside of a half-cylinder-shaped snow tube or ramp while moving from one side of the halfpipe to the other. The riders are judged on the height and style of their tricks.

Giant Slalom:Two snowboarders race head-to-head down a course, turning through a series of gates. The fastest goes on to the next round. The top finishers compete in a total of nine runs.

Snowboard Cross:Four racers start in a pack down a course, racing against each other over rolling terrain and a series of jumps and ramps. The fastest two racers from each heat move on to the next round.

NORDIC

EVENTS

Cross-Country SkiingRacers use two basic techniques:

Classic technique: Where the skis move parallel to each other through

machine-groomed tracks in the snow, and free technique, where skiers propel themselves in a manner similar to speed skating, pushing off with the edge of their skis.

Free technique:Uses shorter skis and is slightly faster than classic — on average about eight per cent faster over an entire race distance.

Ski JumpingAn athlete skis down a long ramp, referred

to as the in-run, and launches into the air at speeds of up to 95 kilometres per hour. Competitors are evaluated on distance, landing and style and while there is a very close relationship between the three, the skier with the longest jump will often have

the highest style points.

Nordic CombinedThe jumping portion occurs first followed by a free technique cross-country race. The break between the jumping and the cross-country race can be as

little as 35 minutes, or as long as a few hours.

The jumping results generate the starting seed for the cross-country race that follows, with the

second and remaining athletes beginning seconds or even minutes after the best jumper. The winner

of the Nordic combined event is the first athlete across the cross-country finish line.

BiathlonThe skiing portion of the biathlon requires fast and physically demanding cross-country free technique

racing, while the rifle shooting requires accuracy and control.

When the athletes ski into the shooting range, they must put down their ski poles and take five shots at a metal target located 50 metres away. Each target has

five plates, fixed in a straight row, which the athlete must hit.

Missing a target plate can be costly: depending on the event, a missed shot means either one minute of added time or skiing a 150-metre penalty loop.

ICE

SPORTS

BobsleighTo start, the racers push off as fast as they can for

approximately 50 metres, then jump into the bobsleigh for a seated descent down the track. The driver steers down the track, while, at the end of the run, the brakeman stops the sled.

There are three Olympic bobsleigh events: the men compete in two-and four-man bobsleigh

and women in a two-person format.

In all Olympic Games events, four heats are held over two days, with medals being awarded to the team with the lowest combined time, measured

to 0.01 of a second.

LugeIn luge (the French word for “sled”), racers

begin by sitting on open fibreglass sleds. Pulling on fixed handles in the ice, they burst out of the start. After this explosive start, they use spiked gloves on the ice

surface for extra acceleration before lying down on their backs.

Luge racers steer using their legs and shoulders, and brake by sitting up, putting their feet down and pulling up on the sled

runners.

SkeletonSkeleton got its name from the sled used — originally

metal, now fiberglass and metal — as it resembles a human skeleton. To start, a skeleton slider grasps the

handles on either side of the sled, runs as fast as possible for approximately 50 metres, then dives head

first onto the sled. Sliders lie on their stomachs and steer by shifting their bodies very slightly.

There are two individual skeleton events in the Olympic Games: one for men and one for women. Both events

consist of four heats held over two days, timed electronically to 0.01 seconds. The individual with the

lowest combined time wins.

Figure SkatingSingles

In singles skating, skaters must complete both a short program (maximum 2 minutes 50 seconds) of required steps, jumps, spins and combinations, and a longer free skating program (4 minutes for ladies, 4 minutes 30 seconds for men), both set to music. The free skate — worth two-thirds of a skater’s final score — allows the athletes to demonstrate their creativity, innovative moves and technical difficulty.

PairsThe pairs event follows the same format as the singles, with a compulsory short program and a free skate (4 minutes 30 seconds). In this event, however, one male and one female skater work in unison, incorporating lifts, throws and synchronized jumps, spins and spirals linked harmoniously by steps and other movements.

Ice DanceIce dance is performed by a couple and is based on their rhythm, interpretation of music and precise steps. Unlike pairs skating, ice dance does not include overhead lifts and jumps. Ice dance is similar to ballroom dancing, as the skaters remain in contact throughout most of the program.

Speed SkatingSpeed skating is the fastest human powered,

non-mechanical aided sport in the world. Skaters can reach speeds of more than 60

kilometres per hour.

Speed skating takes place on a 400 metre oval ice rink. Timed to one-hundredth of a second, athletes compete in pairs, skating

counter-clockwise around the oval and changing lanes once per lap, to equalize the

distance covered.

Short Track Speed Skating

Short track speed skating takes place on a 111.12-metre oval track within a hockey rink. Tight corners make it difficult for skaters to

maintain control.

Short track speed skaters compete against each other, rather than the clock. The

competition consists of a series of heats with four or six athletes. The first two athletes in each heat advance to the next round until

only four skaters remain for the final.

CurlingThe game is played on ice, and the two teams take turns

pushing 19.1-kilogram stones towards a series of concentric rings or circles. The object is to get the stones

as close to the centre of the rings as possible.

One game consists of 10 “ends” (similar to innings in baseball). During each end, each four-person team

slides along the ice 16 stones. Team members sweep the ice clean in front of each stone to control the stone’s direction, known as its “curl,” and the stone’s speed. The team with the most points — more stones closer to the

centre of the rings — at the conclusion of 10 ends, is the winner.

Ice HockeyDuring the Olympic Winter Games, 8 women’s teams and 12

men’s teams compete in round-robin tournaments. Top seeded teams from round robin play advance to the playoff

rounds.

A team must not have more than six players on the ice while play is in progress. The object is for one team to get the puck (a hard black rubber disc) past the other team’s

goaltender and into the net, similar to soccer.

A regular game consists of three 20-minute periods. If a tie occurs in a game in which a winner must be determined, a sudden-victory overtime period is played. In the event of a tie after a sudden-victory period, a game-winning shoot-out

determines the winner.