WINTERS OLYMPICS ARE COMING TO ITALY!

 

 

There are 15 winter Olympic disciplines, the Olympic Games are held on ice or snow and are held every four years. In 2022 the Winter Olympics will take place  in Italy between Milan and Cortina. That will be awesome!

BIATHLON

 

The term derives from  Greek and means "double test" because the athletes involved in this discipline must compete in a cross-country skiing event interspersed with shooting sessions. Olympic discipline since 1960, it includes five specialties: individual trial, mass start, sprint, pursuit and relay.

COMBINED NORDIC

It has been an Olympic discipline since 1924, it is played as a single or in teams. Participating athletes must compete in a ski jumping test followed by a second cross country skiing test. The gaps of the score accumulated in the jump are translated into time. The first athlete to cross the finish line in the cross-country trial wins the race.

BOB

 

Olympic test since 1932, it consists of taking a stretch of artificial ice descent inside an aerodynamic structure in fiberglass equipped with steering and brakes. The test is carried out in teams of two or four people, who push the bob for about fifty meters before settling inside to complete the descent in the shortest possible time.

SLEDGE

It has been an Olympic discipline since 1964. Athletes must travel a stretch of artificial ice track as quickly as possible by lying on their back on an uncovered fiberglass sled, using a steering wheel placed at the end of the sled and maneuverable with the legs. The specialties planned for the Olympic Games are two: single and in pairs.

SKELETON

It is a test in which the athletes descend along an artificial ice rink on a fiberglass sled equipped with skates, lying in a prone position with the head forward. It was an Olympic discipline in 1928 and 1948, and has returned to the program since 2002.  

CURLING

It is a team game that consists of sliding smooth stones weighing 19.1 kg on the ice, bringing them as close as possible to the center of a target to earn points and win the game at the end of the planned throws. The shooter's teammates brush the ice in front of the stone to adjust its speed. It was an Olympic discipline in  1924 and reintroduced again in 1988.

ICE HOCKEY

 

Team sports consisting of six players who, while skating on ice, must hit the “puck” (a hard rubber disc) with a metal club trying to score a goal in the opponent's goal. It has been an Olympic discipline since 1920.

SPEED SKATING

 

It consists of skating on an icy oval ring of 400 meters trying to cover distances ranging from 500 to 10,000 meters in the shortest possible time. Olympic discipline since 1924 is divided into its specialties: single and team pursuit race test.

FIGURE SKATING

It consists of performing figures and movements to the rhythm of music while skating on the ice. The performance is evaluated by a jury of twelve members, of which only nine, by secret draw, have the opportunity to vote based on the technical implementation and the difficulty of the exercise. Olympic trial since 1992 includes single, couple and ice dance (couple) specialties.

ALPINE SKIING

 

Recognized as an Olympic discipline since 1936, it consists in covering a downhill stretch as quickly as possible on skis ranging from 180 (in the slalom) to 1,100 meters (in the downhill) for men and from 140 to 800 meters for women passing through some "doors", under penalty of disqualification. The specialties that make up this discipline are: slalom, giant slalom, super G, downhill, in which athletes can reach speeds of 130 km / h, combined (competition formed by a downhill and a special slalom).

SKI JUMPING

It has been an Olympic discipline since 1924. The athletes, equipped with skis, descend along the ramp of a springboard from which they leap trying to land as far as possible. In addition to the length of the jump, the final result also depends on the style points, assigned by the judges on a scale of 1 to 20. The Olympic Games are competed in single and team specialties.

 

CROSS COUNTRY SKIING

It consists in covering a stretch of track mostly on the plain. There are two techniques, "classic" and "free". It has been an Olympic discipline since 1924 and is divided into six specialties: individual trial, mass start, sprint, team sprint, pursuit and relay.

SHORT TRACK

It is a type of ice skating which consists in covering a certain distance between 500 and 5,000 meters repeating an oval course of 100 meters. It has been an Olympic discipline since 1992 and is divided into two specialties: line test and pursuit.

SKI FREESTYLE

It consists in completing a course on skis by making jumps and evolutions useful to accumulate a score as high as possible based on the difficulty of the exercise. At the Olympic Games it is divided into three specialties: moguls (Olympic discipline since 1992), jumps (1996) and ski cross (new in Vancouver 2010).

SNOWBOARD

 

It is practiced using a board built from a wooden core and equipped with foils and insole in synthetic material similar to those of skiing. It combines typical elements of skiing, skateboarding and surfing. It is divided into three specialties: the half-pipe, in which the competitors are judged on the basis of their evolutions, the parallel giant slalom and the "cross", in which the goal is to complete the descent as quickly as possible. It has been an Olympic discipline since 1998.

CLASSIFICATION OF NATIONS IN WINTER SPORTS

In winter sports the nations with the most medals are Germany with 238 total medals, the USA in second place with 304 medals between bronze, silver and gold and in first place there is Norway with 368 medals. Italy is in twelfth place with 124 medals.

Edoardo, 4sc