Olympic Winter Games - Sochi, Russia 2014

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• Alpine Skiing


• Biathlon


• Bobsleigh


• Cross-Country Skiing


• Curling


• Figure Skating


• Freestyle Skiing


• Ice Hockey


• Luge


• Nordic Combined


• Short Track Speed Skating


• Skeleton


• Ski Jumping


• Snowboard


• Speed Skating

Sochi (, ) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Sochi is the largest Russian resort city.

It sprawls along the shores of the Black Sea and against the background of the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus Mountains. At , Greater Sochi claims to be the longest city in Europe.Port of Sochi at Russia.com; Retrieved 8 July 2007 As of the 2002 Census, it had a population of 328,809, down from 336,514 recorded in the 1989 Census. In 2006, the population was estimated to be 395,012.«»

The city has been selected to be the host of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games in 2014, as well as the Russian Formula 1 Grand Prix from 2014 until at least 2020.Sochi hosts 2014 Winter Olympics BBC Sport, 4 July 2007PM Putin confirms Russian GP for 2014 GPUpdate, October 15, 2010 It is also one of the host cities for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Sochi enjoys a humid subtropical climate-Mediterranean-type, with mild winters (average during the day and at night in the period from December to March) and comfortable summers (average during the day and at night period from May to October).

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In alpine skiing, racers can reach speeds of more than 130 kilometres an hour, travelling down a vertical drop that ranges from 180 metres (Slalom) to 1100 metres (Downhill) for men and 140 metres (Slalom) to 800 metres (Downhill) for women.
The vertical drop is made even more difficult by a series of gates the skiers must twist and turn to pass through. Skiers who miss a gate must climb back up and go through it or be disqualified.

The five Olympic alpine skiing events for men and women are Downhill, Slalom, Giant slalom, Super G, and Combined. Downhill The downhill event features the longest course and the highest speeds in alpine skiing. Each skier makes a single run down a single course and the fastest time determines the winner.

For further information visit - Olympic Alpine Skiing - Event Guide - Tickets - Venue - Schedule

The Biathlon combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting and didn't start as a sport, but as a way for northern European hunters, as early as 2000 BC, to put food on the table. Beginning in the mid-16th century, Scandinavian countries used troops on skis to defend against their enemies.

Today, the biathlon consists of ten separate events that alternate cross-country skiing with target shooting. The object is to complete the course in the least amount of time, hitting as many targets as possible to avoid time penalties.

A more in depth look, can be found HERE

Have you ever dreamed of skateboarding without wheels? Well, that is what snowboarding is. Snowboarding was invented in the United States in the 1960's. It is a combination of skate boarding and skiing put together. Snowboarders do lots of tricks in the air. There are four snowboarding events, men's halfpipe, women's halfpipe, men's parallel giant slalom and women's parallel giant slalom.

For an in depth look at Olympic Snowboarding please visit this page
About Olympic Snowboarding - Half-pipe - Cross - Parallel Slalom

The game curling is played on an ice rink. The players work in teams of four.

They try to get a 42-pound granite stone to travel to the other end of the rink and stop close to the tee.

The point of the game is after all 16 stones are played, you have to have a stone of your team's closest to the center of the Tee.

The game of curling is more than 500 years old. The earliest written record of curling - of groups of people sliding stones on frozen ponds and lochs (an arm of the sea that is similar to a fjord) in competition - are found at Scotland's Paisley Abbey and date back to 1541.

Learn More HERE
Olympic Curling - Event Guide - Team List

I just could not help myself RE: photo LOL

Cross-country skiers competed at the first Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix, in 1924, in 18-kilometre and 50-kilometre races for men. Women cross-country skiers made their debut at the 1952 Olympic Winter Games in Oslo. The cross-country skiing technique known as skating or free technique became a separate Olympic competitive discipline at the Calgary 1988 Winter Games.

How It Works

Racers use two basic techniques in cross-country: classical, where the skis move parallel to each other through machine-groomed tracks in the snow, and free technique where skiers propel themselves in a manner similar to speed skating, pushing off with the edge of their skis. Free technique uses shorter skis and is slightly faster than classical - on average about 8% faster over an entire race distance.

In Olympic cross-country skiing, women compete in individual sprint, team sprint, 10 km individual start, 15 km pursuit, 30 km mass start and the 4x5-km relay. Men compete in individual sprint, team sprint, 15 km individual start, 30 km pursuit, 50 km mass start and the 4x10 km relay. The technique used (classical versus free) in the 10 and 15 km individual start, individual sprint, team sprint and mass start alternates with each cycle of Olympic Games.

Throughout Norway in the 1800s, skiers gathered each winter for a series of ski carnivals - essentially small competitions with a little popular entertainment thrown in. A small group of these winter athletes specialized in both cross-country skiing, which demands endurance and strength, and ski jumping, which requires physical strength and technical control. These athletes were considered the very best of all the carnival athletes.

Men have competed in Nordic combined individual events since the first Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix, in 1924. The team event was introduced at the Calgary 1988 Winter Games, while the sprint event joined the Olympic Winter Games at Salt Lake City in 2002.

How It Works

In the Olympic Nordic combined events, men compete in individual, sprint and team events. The jumping portion occurs first followed by a free technique cross-country race. The break between the jumping and the cross-country race can be as little as 35 minutes or as long as a few hours.

Known as a "Gunderson" or pursuit start, in each of the events, the results of the jumping generate the starting seed for the cross-country race that follows seeing the second and subsequent athletes begin seconds or even minutes after the best jumper. Using pack-racing strategies, the athletes cluster into "trains" that chase down other "trains'" of athletes. The winner of the Nordic combined event is the first athlete across the cross-country finish line.

The first known ski jumper was a Norwegian lieutenant named Olaf Rye, who launched himself 9.5 metres in the air in 1809 before an audience of other soldiers. The continued desire to jump longer led to the radical new development in 1985 of V-style, where a ski jumper holds his skis in a V-shaped position (instead of parallel) while in the air. Most ski jumpers of the day laughed at this innovation but eventually sport science caught up realized that V-style produced 28 per cent more lift.

Men's ski jumping has been part of the Olympic Winter Games since the first Games in Chamonix, in 1924. The large hill competition was added for the 1964 Winter Games in Innsbruck.

How It Works

In ski jumping, an athlete skis down a long ramp, referred to as the inrun and launches into the air at speeds of up to 95 km/h. Technique is integral to ski jumping as athletes must perform a very precise and well-timed takeoff. Once in the air, athletes assume the V-style airfoil and adjusts his position to maximize lift and minimize drag.

Competitors are evaluated on distance and style. While there is a very close relationship between distance and style, and the skier with the longest jump will often have the highest style points, an exception to this can be found in the landing portion. Long jumps can make landing in a controlled telemark position more difficult. The quality of landing can therefore be a determining factor in deciding on finishing place if the distances are similar.

Two jumps are used in Olympic competition: normal hill and large hill, with the normal hill being the smaller of the two. The jump's actual height is of little importance; it's the length of jump that the hill is designed to accommodate that's key. Athletes can travel 105 metres on a normal hill and 140 metres on a large hill.

The distance ski jumpers travel in competition is closely regulated by a jury. At the start of the competitive round, the jury selects a start gate that allows the best athletes to fly close to the maximum safe distance. All athletes start from the same gate and, as a result, less proficient jumpers fly a shorter distance. Ski jumps are designed with many start benches allowing the jury to select the appropriate start gate based on conditions as wind, temperature, humidity, snow type and other facts can impact the distance a jumper flies.

Lace up your skates, pull up your skin tight hood and head for the start line. Speed skaters use on an oval track that has a circumference of 400 meters (1312 feet.)

The track is divided into two lanes so that two skaters race at one time. The skaters switch once during each lap because the outside lane is longer than the inside lane. While figure skating is about being beautiful on the ice, speed skating is about being fast!

Speed skaters lean forward to help them go faster. They wear skates with long flat blades and they wear special suits that fit their body tightly. Sometimes they use one arm or both to help them pick up speed. Three of the most famous American speed skaters are Bonnie Blair, Eric Heiden and Dan Jansen.

 

 

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