Top 10 Sports at the Winter Olympics

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Sorry to those who disagree, but the Olympics are the greatest sporting event in the world. With the winter Olympics comprising of the best winter sports and winter sports athletes competing every 4 years. While there are many great events to watch, we have narrowed down the list of the top 10 sports at the Winter Olympics that you must see.

10. Curling

Each time the Winter Olympics role around, one of the most popular sports during the games is curling. It might sound surprising to hear it, but there is something quite enjoyable watching people yelling “Sweep!” as they brush the ice with brooms.^[1]Complex – Ranking the Best Winter Olympic Sports to Watch on Your Couch Probably one of the biggest reasons that curling is one of the most popular Winter Olympics sports is that it looks like almost anyone can do it. In fact, when you look at the curling athletes, many times they look like a bunch of dads who could just as easily be playing in a bowling league.

9. Figure Skating

Figure skating is one of the best Winter Olympics sports due to the incredible grace that the athletes are able to show even while performing great physical feats.^[2]Olympics – Figure Skating Most people could definitely not jump through the air, spin several times, and land back on the ice on a razor thin blade!

In addition, no other Winter Olympics sports gives you such a close view of the athletes’ reactions when they get their final scores. You get a great chance to see both the joys of victory as well as the agonies of defeat play out right before your eyes.

8. Cross Country Skiing

Cross country skiing is the oldest form of skiing. Originally, it developed as a means of travel during the winter in Norwegian countries. In fact, in Norwegian, the word “ski” comes from the old word “skid” which means “a split length of wood”.^[3]Olympics – Cross Country Skiing Today, it is of little surprise that athletes from Scandinavian countries dominate the sport.

Today, cross country skiing is one of the most interesting events to watch in the Winter Olympics. It combines the endurance of marathon racing with snow! In fact, it has been shown that the athletes with the highest V02 max, a measure of cardiovascular capacity, are actually cross country skiers and not runners!

7. Alpine Skiing

Alpine skiing is one of the most popular events in the Winter Olympics. In fact, it has been an event in the Olympics since 1936.^[4]Olympics – Alpine Skiing It consists of 4 major events including: downhill, slalom, giant slalom, and super giant slalom. In these events you can watch skiers defying the laws of gravity as they fly down the hill in speeds that you wouldn’t even dare going in a car, with little to no protection!

6. Biathlon

In the Winter Olympics, the biathlon is the combination of cross country skiing and rifle shooting. While this combination might sound strange, it actually has a long history. In fact, it actually got its roots from survival skills in the Scandinavian countries where people had to hunt and shoot their food in the winter.

However, the modern form of the biathlon probably comes from the Norwegian military who started holding competitions around 1912.^[5]Olympics – Biathlon

One of the things that makes the biathlon so great is actually due to the combination of skills required. As stated before, cross country skiing is already an extremely difficult cardiovascular sport. This means that you are breathing very hard all the time. On the other hand, when you are shooting a gun, you need to be as calm and still as possible. This fight between the two opposing things makes the biathlon so interesting to watch.

5. Ski Jumping

Ski jumping is perhaps one of the most terrifying, crazy, and amazing Winter Olympics sports to watch. In this crazy event, you can watch athletes literally flying through the air! In fact, in the K120 event, skiers are expected to travel at least 393 feet (120 meters) through the air.^[6]Olympics – Ski Jumping They are then judged on the landing form. I am just impressed that they can fly that far and high in the air on skies and land without breaking their legs!

4. Snowboard

Snowboarding is a relatively new Winter Olympics sport as well as a relatively new sport in general. In fact, it didn’t even start until the 1960s, when people in the United States started to look for other winter sports to do. You can see this in what developed. In fact, snowboarding combines elements from skiing, skateboarding, and surfing.^[7]Olympics – Snowboarding

Snowboarding made its debut in the Olympics in the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympic Games. Today it consists of 4 events including giant slalom, halfpipe, parallel giant slalom, and snowboard cross.

3. Hockey

Hockey is an extremely popular sport, especially in countries like Canada. In fact, hockey is a professional sport that is played all year round in leagues such as the NHL.^[8]Olympics – Ice Hockey

However, one of the best times to watch ice hockey is in the Winter Olympics. Here you get to see some truly great country rivalries come out. If you are even lucky, you will also get to see some great “sanctioned” hockey fights as well!

2. Skeleton

You probably well aware of bobsledding through movies such as Cool Runnings. However, you may not have every heard of skeleton. The Winter Olympics sport of skeleton makes bobsledding look like child’s play. It involves athletes plummeting head first down a treacherous and steep ice track on a tiny sled!^[9]Olympics – Skeleton They can reach speeds up to 80 miles per hour! It is thrilling and scary to watch all at the same time!

1. Short Track Speed Skating

Short track speed skating originated in the United States and Canada. It came from long track speed skating. However, in North America, there were not a lot of 400m long tracks to practice on, so they were forced to practice on regular ice rinks.^[10]Olympics – Short Track Speed Skating

The smaller rinks brought on their own set of challenges including shorter straghtaways tighter turns. As a result, new techniques were developed in order to succeed on these small tracks. In addition, the sport became even more popular due to the addition of North American racing rules which included “pack” style racing. This brought even more excitement as similar to a NASCAR race, there was much more chances for crashes. Today, short track speed skating is one of the most popular Winter Olympics sports to watch!