Sports
Winter Olympics:
Snowboarding
By Zephra Blake
Snowboarding is one of the most popular winter sports today, along with hockey and figure skating. It is almost instantly recognizable. But what does doing this sport really mean? First, there are 5 types of snowboarding in the Olympics: halfpipe, slopestyle, big air, snowboard cross, and parallel giant slalom. Since there are so many types, we will only give a brief overview of each event. Halfpipe is a well-known variation of snowboarding that consists of snowboarders performing jumps and tricks in a U-shaped course. There is a qualification round, with 2 runs,
Figure Skating
Written By Angelina
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, duos, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. In 1908, it became the first winter sport included in the Olympics. The four Olympic figure skating events are men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Non-Olympic events include synchronized skating and four skating.
The blade of an ice skate has a groove on the bottom creating two distinct edges — inside and outside. Judges prefer that skaters glide on one edge of the blade, the flat edge. During a spin, skaters use the "sweet spot" of the blade, called a rocker, which is the roundest part of the blade. Skates used in single and pair skating have a set of large, jagged teeth called toe picks on the front of the blade. Toe picks are mainly used for the take-off in jumps.
and a final round, with 3 runs. Around 60 athletes participate in this style of snowboarding in the Olympics. The next event is one called slopestyle, which is a bit like an obstacle course for snowboarding. Participants race down the side of a mountain while using obstacles-- such as rails or jumps--to create dazzling twists and turns. This event also consists of qualification and finals rounds, with the same number of runs as halfpipe. Big air is an event that is new to the Olympics, being introduced this year at Pyeongchang. It consists of a giant hill, where competitors have the chance to get one huge jump in before landing, (or crashing), to the ground. The number of rounds and runs in this event is the same as halfpipe and slopestyle. Snowboard cross is an adaption of motocross at its heart, consisting of a race between six competitors, with obstacles similar to ones used in slopestyle. The event is divided into seeding and elimination rounds. Seeding rounds have athletes run individual runs, and the competitor with the highest score gets to choose where to start in the elimination round, against all the other athletes. Finally, parallel giant slalom is an event where two athletes race to the bottom of a track, avoiding obstacles such as flags and poles. Similar to snowboard cross, the event consists of a seeding and elimination round. For more complete details on all Winter Olympics events, visit nbcolympics.com.
