Mr. Sawyer's Winter Olympics Website
Curling
Snowboarding
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Snowboarding is a relatively recent addition to the list of official games in the Winter Olympics. Although it was already gaining popularity in the 1980s, it was only in the 1999 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan that it became a part of the quadrennial event.
But before that, its bid for inclusion in the Games became the center of controversy. Prior to the 1998 Games, many snowboarders became upset when the International Olympic Committee gave the jurisdiction of the event to the International Skiing Federation (FSI) instead of the International Snowboarding Federation (ISF). The IOC made the move in spite of the fact that the ISF was already sanctioning snowboard events way before the Nagano Games. That fact became the major source of disappointment among the supporters of the sport.
The sport of curling dates as far back as the early 1500s in Scotland and was reportedly brought to North America by British troops in the 1700s during the Revolutionary War.
Curling made its Olympic debut at the original Olympic Games in 1924. It came back in the 1932 Lake Placid Games as a demonstration sport, but then went on a 56-year Olympic hiatus, until it returned as a demonstration sport at the 1988 and 1992 Games. Curling was brought back again as an official medal sport at the 1998 Nagano Games.
It's been called the demolition derby of the Olympics. In short-track speed skating, competitors squeeze into a tight oval track measuring just 111 m (364 ft) around. At full speed, they jockey for position and often bump one another. Spills are frequent and sometimes nasty.
Though short-track speed skating dates back to the late 1800s, the sport didn't become an officially recognized Olympic event until the 1992 Albertville Games.
The competition consisted of four events in 1992, but was expanded to eight in 2002:
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500 meters (men's and women's)
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1,000 meters (men's and women's)
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1,500 meters (men's and women's)
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3,000 meter relay (women's)
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5,000 meter relay (men's)
In the 500- and 1,000-meter events, four skaters are on the track for each heat, while in the 1,500-meter event there are six skaters on the ice. The thrilling speed skating relay events, unlike running relays, do not involve handing off batons. Instead the athletes are simply given a push by their teammates when it's time to skate.
Before it was a sport, skiing was an important means of transportation.
The exact origin of skiing is unclear, but there is evidence that Scandinavians were using skis to travel and hunt over snow-covered terrain as far back as 4,000 years ago.
Organized slalom races were first introduced in Europe during the 1920s and the first world championship was organized in 1931. Shortly thereafter, Americans caught on and interest in this country snowballed throughout the 1930s.
Alpine skiing made its Olympic debut at the 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Games with a men's and women's combined event, featuring a downhill and two slalom runs. Giant slalom first appeared at the 1952 Oslo Games and the super giant slalom, or super G, was added at the 1988 Calgary Games.
Speedskating
