Winter games and sports Andrei Oprea

Hokey  Ice hockey is a team sport played on ice in which skaters use sticks to shoot a hard rubber hockey puck into their opponent's net to score points. In some countries, such as Canada, the United States and those of Europe like Germany and Sweden among others, it is known as "hockey"; the name "ice hockey" is used in countries where "hockey" generally refers to field hockey.  A team usually consists of four lines of three forwards, three pairs of defensemen, and two goalies. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take the puck and score a goal against the opposing team. Each team has a goaltender who tries to stop the puck from going into the goal.

Figure Skating  Figure skating is a sport and activity in which individuals, duos, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport included in the Olympics, in 1908.[1] The four Olympic disciplines are men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Non-Olympic disciplines include synchronized skating and four skating. In senior-level competition, skaters generally perform two programs (short and long) which, depending on the discipline, may include spins, jumps, moves in the field, lifts, throw jumps, death spirals, and other elements or moves.

Biathlon  Biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. A variant is summer biathlon, which combines cross-country running with rif.In a pursuit, biathletes' starts are separated by their time differences from a previous race,[3] most commonly a sprint. The contestant crossing the finish line first is the winner. The distance is 12.5 kilometres (7.8 mi) for men and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) for women, skied over five laps; there are four shooting bouts (two prone, two standing, in that order), and each miss means a penalty loop of 150 m. To prevent awkward and/or dangerous crowding of the skiing loops, and overcapacity at the shooting range, World Cup Pursuits are held with only the 60 top ranking biathletes after the preceding race. The biathletes shoot on a first-come, first-served basis at the lane corresponding to the position they arrived for all shooting bouts.le shooting

Ski jumping Ski jumping is a sport in which skiers go down a take-off ramp, jump, and attempt to impress judges, who give points for style. The skis used for ski jumping are wide and long (260 to 275 centimetres (102 to 108 in)). Ski jumping is predominantly a winter sport, performed on snow, and is part of the Winter Olympic Games, but can also be performed in summer on artificial surfaces – porcelain or frost rail track on the inrun, plastic on the landing hill. Ski jumping belongs to the nordic type of competitive skiing

Frestyle ski  Freestyle skiing is a form of skiing which originally encompassed three disciplines: aerials, moguls, and ski ballet. Today, freestyle skiing consists of aerials, moguls, ski cross, ski half-pipe and slopestyle as part of the Olympics.  Freestyle skiing first began to be contested seriously in the 1960s and early 1970s, when it was often known as "hot-dogging." Bob Burns, who later went on to create The Ski brand skis, pioneered this style in Sun Valley, Idaho, beginning in  In the late 1960s other followers of the style included Wayne Wong, Flying Eddie Ferguson, Chico and Cokie Schuler and their mentor Chris Flanagan also, Roger Evans, John Clendenin, Hermann Goellner and Tom Leroy. Some people thought that this style of skiing was too dangerous and did not want it to be an Olympic sport. The free-form sport had few rules and was not without danger; knee injuries became a common phenomenon for professional freestylers.

Ski alpine  Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. It is also commonly known as downhill skiing, although that also incorporates different styles. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings; ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. Alpine skiing is popular wherever the combination of snow, mountain slopes, and a sufficient tourist infrastructure can be built up, including parts of Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, the South American Andes, and East Asia.  Alpine skiing began as a club sport in 1861 at Kiandra in Australia and a number of similar clubs in North America and the Austrian and Swiss Alps. Today, most alpine skiing occurs at a ski resort with ski lifts that transport skiers up the mountain. The snow is groomed, avalanches are controlled and trees are cut to create trails. Many resorts also include snow making equipment to provide skiing when the weather would otherwise not allow it. Alternatively, alpine skiers may pursue the sport in less controlled environments; this practice is variously referred to as ski touring, backcountry skiing, or extreme skiing.  Competitive alpine skiing consists of four disciplines exist: slalom, giant slalom, super giant slalom, and downhill. Slalom has short tight turns, whereas giant-slalom races are set with more widely spaced turns. Super-giant slalom and downhill have few turns; the courses have gates spaced widely apart and skiers often reach 100 km/h.

Cross-country skiing  Cross-country skiing (or XC skiing) is a form of ski touring in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles. The activity is popular in many places with large snowfields, primarily Northern Europe, Canada, and Alaska.[1]  Cross-country skiing is part of the Nordic skiing sport family, which includes ski jumping, Nordic combined (cross-country skiing and ski jumping), Biathlon (skiing and rifle marksmanship)[1] and ski-orienteering (which includes map navigation along snow trails and tracks). Cross-country skiing is the modern style of skiing that most resembles prehistoric skiing, particularly when done in the backcountry. It is also related to Telemark skiing.

Skeleton  Skeleton is a fast winter sliding sport in which a person rides a small sled down a frozen track while lying face down, during which the rider experiences forces up to 5 g and reaches speeds over 130 km/h (80 mph).[1] The sport was named from the bony appearance of the sled.[1] It was added to the Olympic program for the 2002 Winter Olympics; previously, it had been in the Olympic program only in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in 1928 and 1948.[2]

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