Winter games and sports

1. Winter games and sports By TibiIchim

2. Hockey • Ice hockey is played on a large flat area of ice, using a three-inch-diameter (76.2 mm) vulcanized rubber disc called a puck. This puck is often frozen before high-level games to decrease the amount of bouncing and friction on the ice. The game is contested between two teams of skaters. The game is played all over North America, Europe and in many other countries around the world to varying extent. It is the most popular sport in Canada, Finland, Latvia, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. • The governing body of international play is the 72-member International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Men's ice hockey has been played at the Winter Olympics since 1924, and was in the 1920 Summer Olympics. Women's ice hockey was added to the Winter Olympics in 1998. North America's National Hockey League (NHL) is the strongest professional ice hockey league, drawing top ice hockey players from around the globe.[citation needed] The NHL rules are slightly different from those used in Olympic ice hockey over many categories.[citation needed]

3. Snowboard • Snowboards are boards that are usually the width of one's foot longways, with the ability to glide on snow.[1] Snowboards are differentiated from monoskis by the stance of the user. In monoskiing, the user stands with feet inline with direction of travel (facing tip of monoski/downhill) (parallel to long axis of board), whereas in snowboarding, users stand with feet transverse (more or less) to the longitude of the board. Users of such equipment may be referred to as snowboarders. Commercial snowboards generally require extra equipment such as bindings and special boots which help secure both feet of a snowboarder, who generally rides in an upright position.[1] These type of boards are commonly used by people at ski hills or resorts for leisure, entertainment and competitive purposes in the activity called snowboarding.

4. Ski jumping • Ski jumping is a sport in which skiers go down a take-off ramp, jump, and attempt to impress judges, who give points for style. The skis used for ski jumping are wide and long (260 to 275 centimetres (102 to 108 in)). Ski jumping is predominantly a winter sport, performed on snow, and is part of the Winter Olympic Games, but can also be performed in summer on artificial surfaces – porcelain or frost rail track on the inrun, plastic on the landing hill. Ski jumping belongs to the nordic type of competitive skiing

5. Ski • 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

6. Curling • Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area which is segmented into four concentric rings. It is related to bowls, boules and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called rocks, across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a circular target marked on the ice.[2] Each team has eight stones. The purpose is to accumulate the highest score for a game; points are scored for the stones resting closest to the centre of the house at the conclusion of each end, which is completed when both teams have thrown all of their stones. A game may consist of ten or eight ends. • The curler can induce a curved path by causing the stone to slowly turn as it slides, and the path of the rock may be further influenced by two sweepers with brooms who accompany it as it slides down the sheet, using the brooms to alter the state of the ice in front of the stone. A great deal of strategy and teamwork goes into choosing the ideal path and placement of a stone for each situation, and the skills of the curlers determine how close to the desired result the stone will achieve. This gives curling its nickname of "chess on ice".[3][4]

7. Skeleton • 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).[1] The sport was named from the bony appearance of the sled.[1] 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.[2]

8. Biathlon • This sport has its origins in an exercise for Norwegian people, as an alternative training for the military. One of the world's first known ski clubs, the Trysil Rifle and Ski Club, was formed in Norway in 1861 to promote national defense at the local level. • Called military patrol, the combination of skiing and shooting was contested at the Olympic Winter Games in 1924, and then demonstrated in 1928, 1936, and 1948, but did not regain Olympic recognition then, as the small number of competing countries disagreed on the rules. During the mid-1950s, however, biathlon was introduced into the Soviet and Swedish winter sport circuits and was widely enjoyed by the public. This newfound popularity aided the effort of having biathlon gain entry into the Winter Olympics. • The first World Championship in biathlon was held in 1958 in Austria, and in 1960 the sport was finally included in the Olympic Games. At Albertville in 1992, women were first allowed in Olympic biathlon. • The competitions from 1958 to 1965 used high-power centerfire such as .30-06 Springfield and 7.62x51mm NATO, and so on, before the .22 Long Riflerimfire cartridge was standardized in 1978. The ammunition was carried in a belt worn around the competitor's waist. The sole event was the men's 20 km individual, encompassing four separate ranges and firing distances of 100 m, 150 m, 200 m, and 250 m. The target distance was reduced to 150 m with the addition of the relay in 1966. The shooting range was further reduced to 50 m in 1978 with the mechanical targets making their debut at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.

9. Figure Skating • 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). • The sport is also associated with show business. Major competitions generally conclude with exhibition galas, in which the top skaters from each discipline perform non-competitive programs. Many skaters, both during and after their competitive careers, also skate in ice shows which run during the competitive season and the off-season.

10. Speed Skating • Speed skating, or speedskating, is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. In the Olympic Games, long-track speed skating is usually referred to as just "speed skating", while short-track speed skating is known as "short track".[1] The ISU, the governing body of both ice sports, refers to long track as "speed skating" and short track as "short track skating".