Winter sport, Olympics. Full list

In 2014 in our country there was a grand sporting event - Sochi Winter Olympics. What sports were represented on it, we will recall in our article. However, I would like to note the fact that the Olympic program includes only those sports that are widely used in at least 25 countries of the three continents. Each of them is under the leadership of its International Sports Federation. To date, the Winter Olympics are held in 7 sports, presented in 15 disciplines.

Biathlon

Biathlon is a very popular winter sport for fans of the Olympics. It combines a race on skis and shooting at targets from a small-caliber rifle.

The essence of the competition is that the athlete must first overcome on the skis a distance with four firing lines. For shooting, a rifle is used, which is behind the athlete's back all the time. It does not have an optical sight. The distance to the target is 50 meters. At the moment of hitting the target, the black target is closed with a white valve, so that the athlete immediately sees if he has hit the target or not. The diameter of the target depends on the position from which the shooting takes place: 4.5 cm - lying and 11.5 cm - standing.

In modern biathlon competitions are held in personal championship, sprint, relay race, mass start, pursuit race.

Bobsled

Bobsleigh is the winter sport of the Olympics (since 1924), the meaning of which is the fastest descent along the ice track in controlled beans. The team can consist of two or four people - steering, braking and two pushers in four beans. Each member of the crew performs its function: the pushers disperse the bean at the start, which determines its speed, the helmsman controls the bean on the track and tends to pass it along the optimal trajectory, without losing speed during bends, the braking stops the bean at the end of the route.

The ice track has the form of a trench 1.5-2 km long with various turns and turns of varying complexity. Modern beans are made of fiberglass, aluminum, Kevlar. The control is carried out by means of a movable front axle. During the descent the bean can reach a speed of more than 150 km / h.

Not so long ago in the bobsled one more sporting discipline stood out: the skeleton. Descent along the icy track is carried out on skeletons - a two-lane sleigh on a reinforced frame.

Curling

Despite the fact that the first mention of curling is found in the literature of the XV century, it was included in the Olympics program only in 1994.

Before the two teams is the task - to put the maximum number of stones in the circle (house), closer to its center. In this case, you can knock out the opponent's stones from the house. To increase the speed of sliding, as well as to change the trajectory of its movement, the participants rub the ice in front of the stone with special mops - friction melts the ice, and the shell slides along the thin layer of water formed.

The stones are made of granite. Each weight is about 20 kg.

Riding

Skating is also included in the Olympic sports of the Winter Olympics and includes 3 types of sports disciplines:

• Speed skating is a competition between skaters on short (up to 1.5 km) and long (up to 10 km) distances. Participants compete in pairs: one runs along the outer circle, the other - on the inside.
• Figure skating is a favorite winter sport of the Olympics. Compete as single men and women, and couples. The technical component of dance and artistry is assessed.
• Short track - this is another version of speed skating. Athletes at a speed overcome various distances inside the hockey box. Compete for a personal championship and in the team (relay).

skiing

This kind includes several sports disciplines:

• Skiing - skiing downhill from a mountain slope marked with a gate and flags.
• Cross-country biathlon (held only among men). First, athletes jump from a springboard, and then take part in a ski race, and the first to start is the one who got the highest number of points for jumping.
• Cross-Country Skiing - Cross-country skiing of a certain distance, the length of which can be up to 50 km.
• Ski jumping is a very spectacular winter sport of the Olympics. For making jumps, complex engineering constructions are made - jumps. Not only the range of the jump is estimated, but also the technique.
• Freestyle includes such types as ski acrobatics and moguls. In acrobatics, athletes perform a variety of jumps and jumps from the springboards. In the mogul, the descent is first made on skis along an uneven koskogoobraznoy highway, and then two jumps from a springboard.
• Snowboarding - descent from the mountains on a special track and acrobatic jumps from the springboards on the board - snowboard.

Luge sport

Descent on a sleigh is one of the 7 sports of the Winter Olympics. Competitions are held among singles (men and women), as well as couples (mix). The rules do not differ from the rules of bobsled and skeleton - you need to overcome the ice track as quickly and accurately as possible.

Sankers are an aerodynamic shield, fixed on two skids. At the ends of the runners are fixed special devices with which the athlete manages the sled. The outfit consists of an aerodynamic suit, a helmet, shoes with buckles, thanks to which the legs of the lugbers are fixed in the elongated position. Gloves with thorns are necessary for repulsion at the start.

Hockey

Hockey on ice completes our list of sports of the Winter Olympics. The competition is held between two teams, which aspire as much as possible to get the puck into the opponent's goal. Each team consists of six people plus spare players.

The list of Olympic sports games is regularly supplemented. For example, in 2011, several other sports disciplines were introduced into the Olympic program: in skiing - jumping from a springboard for women; In the sled - relay race; In figure skating - team competitions; In freestyle - slopestyle; In snowboarding - slopestyle and parallel team slalom.