Winter games and sports

Autor: Maria AldesCoordonator: Radu Georgeta

Figure skating is a sport and activity in which individuals, duos, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport included in the Olympics, in 1908.[1] The four Olympic disciplines are men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Non-Olympic disciplines include synchronized skating and four skating. In senior-level competition, skaters generally perform two programs (short and long) which, depending on the discipline, may include spins, jumps, moves in the field, lifts, throw jumps, death spirals, and other elements or moves.

The blade has a groove on the bottom creating two distinct edges—inside and outside. In figure skating, the skater should skate on one edge of the blade and not on both at the same time, which is referred to as a flat edge. Skates used in single and pair skating have a set of large, jagged teeth called toe picks on the front of the blade. Ice dancing blades are an inch shorter in the rear and have smaller toe picks.

Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level (senior) at local, national, and international competitions. The International Skating Union (ISU) regulates international figure skating judging and competitions. These include the Winter Olympic Games, the World Championships, the World Junior Championships, the European Championships, the Four Continents Championships, and the Grand Prix series (senior and junior).

Skating

Skating photos

A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, either with a free, lockable, or partially secured heel.

Originally intended as an aid to travel over snow they are now mainly used recreationally in the sport of skiing.

Skis are also fitted to vehicles dedicated to traveling over snow such as snowmobiles and snowcats

Ski

Skeleton is a fast winter sliding sport in which a person rides a small sled down a frozen track while lying face down, during which the rider experiences forces up to 5 g and reaches speeds over 130 km/h (80 mph). The sport was named from the bony appearance of the sled. It was added to the Olympic program for the 2002 Winter Olympics; previously, it had been in the Olympic program only in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in 1928 and 1948.

Skeleton

Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of two or four make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled. The timed runs are combined to calculate the final score.

The various types of sleds came several years before the first tracks were built in St. Moritz, Switzerland, 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, bobsledding was eventually banned from the public highway. In the winter of 1903/1904 the Badrutt family, owners of the historic Kulm Hotel and the Palace Hotel, allowed Emil Thoma to organise the construction of the first familiarly configured 'half-pipe' track in the Kulm Hotel Park, ending in the village of Cresta. It has hosted the sport during two Olympics and is still in use today.

International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT). National competitions are often governed by bodies such as the United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation and Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton.

Bobsleigh

Snowboarding or board snowing is a winter sport that involves descending a slope that is covered with snow while standing on a board attached to a rider's feet, using a special boot set into a mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, sledding, surfing and skiing. It was developed in the United States in the 1960s and became a Winter Olympic Sport in 1998.

Snowboarding

Cross-country skiing (or XC skiing) is a form of ski touring in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles. The activity is popular in many places with large snowfields, primarily Northern Europe, Canada, and Alaska.[1]

Cross-country skiing is part of the Nordic skiing sport family, which includes ski jumping, Nordic combined (cross-country skiing and ski jumping), biathlon (skiing and rifle marksmanship)[1] and ski-orienteering (which includes map navigation along snow trails and tracks). Cross-country skiing is the modern style of skiing that most resembles prehistoric skiing, particularly when done in the backcountry. It is also related to telemark skiing.

Cross-country skiing

Ice hockey is a team sport played on ice in which skaters use sticks to shoot a hard rubber hockey puck into their opponent's net to score points. In some countries, such as Canada, the United States and those of Europe like Sweden among others, it is known as "hockey"; the name "ice hockey" is used in countries where "hockey" generally refers to field hockey.

A team usually consists of four lines of three forwards, three pairs of defensemen, and two goalies. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take the puck and score a goal against the opposing team. Each team has a goaltender who tries to stop the puck from going into the goal.

A fast-paced physical sport, hockey is most popular in areas of North America (particularly Canada and northern parts of the United States) and Europe. In North America, the National Hockey League (NHL) is the highest level for men's hockey and the most popular. Ice hockey is the official national winter sport of Canada,[1] where the game enjoys immense popularity. The first organized game was played on March 3, 1875, in Montreal.

162 of 177 medals at the IIHF World Championships have been taken by seven nations: Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden and the United States.[2][3] Of the 66 medals awarded in men's competition at the Olympics from 1920, only six medals did not go to one of those countries. All 12 Olympic and 36 IIHF World Women's Championships medals have gone to one of these seven countries, and every gold medal in both competitions has been won by either Canada or the United States.[4][5]

Ice hockey