WINTER OLYMPIC EVENTS

THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF EVENTS: ALPINE SKIING & SNOWBOARDING NORDIC ICE SPORTS

ALPINE SKIING & SNOWBOARDING EVENTS

Alpine Skiing In 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 Skiing Aerials 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. Moguls The 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 Cross The 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.

Snowboarding Halfpipe: 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 Skiing Racers 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 Jumping An 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 Combined The 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.

Biathlon The 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

Bobsleigh To 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.

Luge In 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.

Skeleton Skeleton 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 Skating Singles 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. Pairs The 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 Dance Ice 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 Skating Speed 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 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.

Curling The 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 Hockey During 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.