The Sports of the Olympic Games

All sports in the winter Olympic Games take place on snow or ice.

Competitiors at Vancouver 2010 will take part in seven sports. Within these sports are more than 60 individual and team events in which medals will be one.

Biathlon - The word "biathlon" comes from the Greek word for two contests. The Biathlon unites two sports: cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. There are 10 Biathlon medal events.

Bobsleigh
Bobsleigh
The two-man and four-man bobsleigh events take place on a steep, narrow, ice covered run consisting of straights and bends. The riders push start the sled at the top of the run, then jump in as it starts to gather speed.

Skeleton
Skeleton, sometimes also called tobogganing, is an individual winter sport where competitors drive the sled in a head-first position down an ice track on a sled or 'sleigh', and differs from luge, where the rider drives the sled from a feet-first orientation.

Luge,
"Luge," which means "sled" in French, is an Olympic event in which sledders race along a steep, ice-covered track at speeds of up to 90 mph!
Steering is done by shifting the weight or pulling straps attached to the sled's runners.

Curling
Curling is similar to bowls, but played on ice with polished heavy stones rather than plastic balls. It was invented in Scotland 500 years ago.

Ice Hockey
Ice hockey is a team sport played on ice. It is one of the world's fastest sports, with players on skates capable of going high speeds.

Skating

• Figure Skating
  Figure skating is an ice skating sporting event where individuals, mixed couples, or groups perform spins, jumps, and other "moves" on the ice, often to music.
• Speed Skating
• Short Track Speed Skating
  Short track speed skating is a form of ice skating very similar to speed skating, where a number of skaters (typically 4 to 6) compete simultaneously on a short indoor ice track 111 m long.

Skiing

• Nordic Combined
  Nordic combined is a mix of both ski jumping and cross-country skiing. There are individual and team events with four athletes on each team.
• Freestyle Skiing
  There are two divisions of freestyle skiing: moguls and aerials.
  In moguls, a competitor must ski down a slope full of mounds of snow called moguls, perform two jumps and do a number of mid-air tricks.
  In the aerials event, skiers use ramps of different sizes and shapes to somersault or perform twists in the air.
• Ski Jumping
• Alpine Skiing
  There are five types of races: downhill, super giant slalom (called super G), giant slalom, slalom and combined. In all events, the skier with the fastest time wins.
• Cross-country Skiing
  Cross-country skiing is like cross-country running, only on skis.
• Snowboard

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