Description

From the speed and excitement of downhill, to the precision and endurance-testing cross-country event, skiing at the Olympics is popular for spectators.

Transcript

Winter Olympic Skiing This activity was originally invented as a practical form of transportation but today is a popular winter sport. Hi! I'm Rebecca Brayton and welcome to WatchMojo.com and today, we’ll be learning more about skiing at the Olympics. The admittance of skiing to the Olympic Games did much to boost the popularity of the sport worldwide. Today’s Olympic skiing events include alpine, freestyle, cross-country, and Nordic combined, which integrates ski jumping and cross-country skiing. Cross-country is one of the oldest forms of skiing to be contested at the Olympic Games, having originally appeared during the first winter games of 1924. It simply involves gliding on skis across flat, snowy terrain using poles for momentum. It is also an element of the winter biathlon event which combines cross-country with rifleshooting. Ski jumping is another ski event that has been seen at every winter Olympic Games. Competitors ski down and in-run to a jump. Athletes are attempting to fly as far as possible off the jump. However, points are also awarded for style and landing. As of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, only men have competed in ski jumping at an Olympic level. Ski jumping and cross-country are two of the sports considered Nordic ski events because the heels of the ski boots used cannot be fixed to the skis. Alpine or downhill skiing has been an event at the Winter Olympic Games since 1936. Competitive alpine skiing is separated into two general categories; racing and freestyle. Slalom, giant slalom, super giant slalom and downhill are the various disciplines in alpine racing. Downhill and super giant slalom makeup the speed events. Downhill is the fastest and therefore, the riskiest event with racers reaching potential speeds of 80 miles or 130 kilometers per hour. Slalom is the most technical and requires athletes to ski between closely spaced gaits. Giant slalom is similar. However, the gates are more widely spaced. Super G combines downhill and giant slalom events with skiers gliding between widely spaced gates over a longer course at higher speeds. Freestyle skiing on the other hand is a newer Olympic event. Its inception was at 1992’s competitions in Albertville France. This acrobatic form of skiing comprises many disciplines. Moguls and aerials are some of the more traditional events while the new school of freestyle encompasses halfpipe and bigger events among others. The Moguls event is a competition where skiers must navigate around a number of bumps on the terrain referred to as moguls and perform tricks on a steep run. This must all be completed as quickly as possible. The Aerial event has athlete skiing off jumps to be launched 40 to 50 feet in the air. They perform twists and flips before landing and are judged on take off, form and landing. Introduced at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, skiercross or ski cross is another freestyle event. Most of the sports athletes have an alpine skiing background and ski cross is a downhill event that incorporates natural and artificial obstacles such as turns, flat sections, banks and ridges. Four skiers race down the course at the same time with the possibility of passing between athletes. Strength and endurance are tested in this timed event. With the variety of skiing events found in the Olympics, it is no wonder this sport is one of the games’ most popular.