The word “biathlon” stems from the Greek word for two contests. Originally a tactic of survival, the biathlon was the way the Northern Europeans found food for themselves to stay alive. They would ski to hunt for food. Later, they skied with weapons to defend their countries. In the case of the Winter Olympics, it is interpreted as a joining of two sports: cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.

Bobsleigh Olympic sport since 1924

The world’s first sliding sport was originally developed by people in search of the ultimate thrill! By the 19th century Bobsleigh racing was the sport of all sports! This activity, also called skeleton, originated in the Swiss town of St. Moritz in the late 1800s and the first competition was held in 1884. Riders would race down the road from St. Moritz to Celerina, in hopes of coming in the fastest and the winner would receive a bottle of champagne. Over time, the sport has changed in several ways. One example of change occurred in 1887 when riders began competing in a flat, horizontal position. The sport took its nickname in 1892, when a new, mostly metal sled was introduced. People thought it looked like a skeleton and the name stuck! The sport first appeared in the Winter Olympics in 1924.

Curling Olympic sport since 1924

Curling originated in 16th century Scotland, where games were played during winter on frozen ponds, and marshes. The earliest-known curling stones date back to 1511 and came from the Scottish regions of Stirling and Perth. In the sport’s early days, stones were simply taken from river bottoms. Later, in the 1600s, stones with handles were introduced. This is more fitting of the delivery style of today’s curling events. The key developments in the sport have been the standardization of the type of stone used and the stipulation that the event take place in an indoor, refrigerated ice facility. In the modern Olympics, Curling is a competition between two teams with four players each. The game is played on ice, and the two teams take turns pushing a 19.1kg stone towards a series of circles. These circles all have the same center point, and the object of the sport is to get the stone as close to the center of the circles as possible. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins!

Ice Hockey An Olympic sport since 1920

 The word “hockey” comes from the old French word “hocquet”, meaning “stick”. It is widely accepted that the British are responsible for bringing hockey to North America, although the origins of ice hockey are unclear. It seems that soldiers stationed in Nova Scotia, Canada, played the earliest formal games. In 1879, a group of college students at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, organized competitions and developed the first known set of hockey rules. It wasn’t until the 1890s that the first known hockey games took place in the United States. This game took place between Johns Hopkins and Yale Universities in 1895.

Luge Olympic sport since 1964

 Luge is the French word for “sled. Historical findings point to the existence of sleds, as early as AD 800 with the Vikings. The Vikings are believed to have had sleds with two runners, which resemble the type of sleds we see today. The first international and official sled race occurred in 1883 in Davos, Switzerland. The entire race took only just over nine minutes! There were 21 competitors from Australia, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. The winner of this 4 km race was Georg Robertson, a student from Australia, and Peter Minsch, a mailman from Klosters.

Skating Olympic sport since 1908

 For hundreds of years, skating was simply a rapid form of transportation across frozen lakes, rivers and canals. The oldest form of skate was only a length of bone attached to sandals and they date back to 20,000 years B.C. Some of the early pioneers of skating were the Dutch and as far back as the 13th century kept up communication by skating from village to village along frozen rivers and canals. Soon enough, skating spread across the channel to England. Shortly thereafter, the first clubs and artificial rinks began springing up across the country. After that, the sport spread across Europe and reached North America. Many historical figures, including several kings of England, Marie Antoinette, Napoleon I, the great German poet Goethe and Napoleon III all loved to take to the ice as a way of sporting and to relax! During the Olympic Winter Games you will see three disciplines of skating. The first is Figure Skating, including singles for men and ladies, as well as pairs, featuring a man and a woman, Ice Dancing, and Speed Skating.

Skiing Olympic sport since 1924

Once upon a time, man had to work out how to move quickly through deep snow in the wilder parts of the world. Very old paintings discovered in the 1930s clearly portrayed this transportation necessity. On ancient artifacts found in Russia and thought to be at least 6000 years old, a hunter on rudimentary, or very basic skis is clearly pictured alongside reindeers. It is almost certain that a form of skiing has been an important part of life in colder countries since that time. Nowadays, there are five disciplines, or different types of skiing, in the Winter Olympics: Alpine, Cross-Country, Ski Jumping, Nordic Combined, Freestyle as well as Snowboarding. In order to compete and eventually win these sports, an athlete must master speed, endurance, dexterity, and determination.