Winter Olympic Games

The Winter Olympic Games, Winter Olympics for short but more correctly The Olympic Winter Games, are the cold-weather counterpart to the Summer Olympic Games. They feature winter sports held on ice or snow, such as ice skating and skiing.

Sports

Through the years, the number of sports and events conducted at the Winter Olympic Games has increased. In this section, we give an overview of all sports and events that are currently on the programme, or have been in the past. So- called demonstration sports, in which contests were held but for which no medals were awarded, are also discussed.

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Current sports

• Alpine skiing was first included in 1936. It would not have been conducted in 1940 due to professionalism disputes, but it was on the programme again in 1948. The current programme features 10 events, with both men and women skiing the downhill, super g, giant slalom, slalom and combined events.
• Biathlon was first included in 1960, although the very similar military patrol was contested in 1924. Only a single individual event for men was included in 1960, but events have been added over the years. Women first participated in 1992. At present there are 4 events, conducted by both men and women: the sprint (10 km (men)/7.5 km (women)), the individual (20 km (men)/15 km (women)), the pursuit (12.5 km (men)/10 km (women)) and the relay (4 x 7.5 km). A mass start event will be added in 2006 (15 km (men)/12.5 km (women)).
• Bobsleighing has been included since 1924, although it was not held in 1960. The four-man event has been held since 1924, the two-man event was added in 1932. Women didn't compete until 2002, when the two-woman race was included.
• Cross-country skiing has always been on the Olympic programme. The number of events has steadily grown over the years, being 12 in 2002: sprint (1.5 km), pursuit (10 km for men, 5 km for women), mass start (30 km (men)/15 km (women)), 10 km (women), 15 km (men), 30 km (women), 50 km (men), relay (4 x 10 km (men), 4 x 5 km (women)).
• Curling was on the programme in 1924, but disappeared afterwards. It was demonstrated in 1932, 1988 and 1992, to be officially included in 1998. Since then, separate tournaments for men and women have been held.
• Figure skating was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympics, appearing in the programme of the Summer Olympics in 1908 and 1920. The single events for men and women, and the pairs contest have been on the programme since 1908, ice dancing was first included in 1976. The special figures event for men was only conducted in 1908.
• Freestyle skiing was first demonstrated in three disciplines in 1988. The moguls event become Olympic in 1992, while ballet and aerials remained a demonstration event. The aerials also received official status in 1994. Both events are held for men and women.
• Ice hockey was already held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, and has been played in every celebration of the Winter Games. A women's tournament was first conducted in 1998.
• Luge first entered the Olympic programme in 1964, and the three events conducted then are still unchanged. It included a singles event for both men and women, and a doubles event. The latter is technically open for both men and women, but in practice, only men compete.
• Nordic combined, a combination of ski jumping and cross-country skiing, has been Olympic since 1924. Until 1988, when a team event was added, there was only an individual event. A third event, the sprint, made its debut in 2002. Only men compete in this sport.
• Short track speed skating was a demonstration sport in 1988, and was included as a full sport four years later. The programme was expanded from 4 in 1992 to 8 in 2002. The events are the same for both men and women: 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m and the relay (5000 m (men)/3000 m (women)).
• Skeleton was included in both Olympics held in Sankt Moritz, the birthplace of the sport. It was not held again until it was included again in 2002, with individual events for both men and women.
• Ski jumping has been an Olympic sport since 1924, with the normal hill event contested. A second event (large hill) was introduced in 1964, and a team event followed in 1988. This sport is only contested by men.
• Snowboarding was first contested at the 1998 Olympics, with giant slalom and halfpipe events for both sexes. The giant slalom was replaced by a parallel giant slalom for 2002, and in 2006 the snowboard cross event will be added.
• Speed skating has been on the programme since 1924. Women's events were not included until 1960, although they were demonstrated in 1932 and had been on the preliminary programme for 1940. Current events are the 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, 3000 m (women only), 5000 m and 10000 m (men only). The all-round competition was only contested in 1924. The team pursuit event will make its debut in 2006.

Discontinued sports

• Military patrol, a precursor to the biathlon, was a medal sport in 1924. It was also demonstrated in 1928, 1936 and 1948, and in 1960 biathlon became an official sport.

Demonstration sports

• Bandy, a sport briefly described as "ice hockey with a ball", very popular in the Nordic countries, was demonstrated in 1952.
• Ice stock sport, a German variant to curling, was demonstrated in 1936 and 1964.
• Skijöring, skiing behind horses, was a demonstration sport in Sankt Moritz 1928.
• Sled-dog racing contests were displayed in Lake Placid 1932.
• Speed skiing was demonstrated in 1992.
• Winter pentathlon, a variant to the modern pentathlon, was included as a demonstration event in 1948.