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Skating

Since: Speed skating 1924, Paris, France. Figure skating 1924, Paris, France

History:
The oldest pair of ice skates go back to about 3000 B.C, and were found at the bottom of a lake in Switzerland. They were made of animal bones, and there were holes at each end of the skate where you would put leather straps and tie the skates to your feet. Around 1500, the Dutch added a narrow metal edged blade and in 1848 in Philadelphia, PA the first all steal clamp for skates were invented. In the 1870's Jackson Haines added the first toe pick to skates, making the toe pick jumps possible.

Famous Founders:

Speed Skating: 

                The first time that women's speed skating was added to the Olympics was in 1960. Bonnie Blair was an Olympic American speed skater. The first time she was in the Olympics was in 1984 at Sarajevo. Even though she didn't win a medal she showed promise by finishing eighth in the 500 meters at age 19. At the 1988 winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Bonnie won a bronze medal in the 1000 meters and a gold medal in the 500 meters. In the 500 meters Bonnie set a record by finishing with a time of 39.10 seconds. At the 1992 winter Olympics in Albertville, France, she would win again in both the 500 meters and the 1000 meters. In 2004 Bonnie Blair ws elected into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame.

Figure Skating:          

                Figure skating has been in the Olympic games since the 1908 summer Olympics. But since 1924, figure skating has been a part of the winter Olympics. Olympic figure skating has four categories: womens singles, mens singles, pairs and ice dancing.

Michelle Kwan is an American Olympic figure skater. She has competed for over a decade and has won two Olympic medals, one bronze and one silver. Michelle is the most decorated skater in U.S history and is known for her consistency and expressive artistry on the ice. She is also considered one of the greatest skaters of all time.

Luge

Since: 1964, Tokyo, Japan

History:

Luge may be thought of as a relativly new sport. But the first time luge appeared was not in the Olympics but in Norway in 1480. In the sport of luge the competitors strap themselves to 50 pound sleds and race down an icy slope. Seeing that luge is very dangerous, the people that compete in it are considered some of the most fearless competitors.

              The first international luge race was in 1883 with 21 competiters representing seven different countries. In 1953 luge fans got their own international governing body called Federation Internationale de Luge de course, or FIL. And in 1964 luge was introduced as an official Olympic sport at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria.

Famous Founders:

               Felix Loch was born in 1989 and is a German luger who has be competing since he was six years old. And he has been on the German national luge team since 2006. Felix has won four gold medals at the FIL World Luge Championships. Felix was also the youngest world champion at the age of 18 when he won the men's singles in 2008.

Bobsled

Since: 1924, Paris, France

History:
Although the sled has been around for centuries, early in the 19^th century the Swiss attached a steering mechanism to a traditional toboggan. In 1897 the world's first bobsled club was founded in St. Moriz Switzerland. That started the interest in bobsleding in Europe. By 1914 there were many bobsled races going on all around Europe on natural ice courses. The sleds were first made of wood then the wood was replaced with steel which is more or less used today.

Famous Founders:

                The Jamaican bobsled team gained their fame at the 1988 winter Olympic games in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. There were two Americans that are responsible for founding the Jamaican Bobsled team. George. B. Fitch and William Maloney. They had family in Jamaica and after they witnessed a pushcart derby they realized that it was very similar to bobsledding. Since you need to be fast so you can push the bobsled, George and William decided to use sprinters which there are a lot of in Jamaica. They first tried to get Olympic class sprinters, but nobody was interested, so they presented their idea to the military.

The first five members of the Jamaican bobsled team were...

~ Devon Harris

~ Dudley Stokes

~ Aiden Van de Mortel

~ Michael White

~ Samuel Clayton

They were coached by Howard Siler from Malone, New York.

Curling

Since: 1924, Paris, France

History:
Curling originated in Scotland in the 1500's. Games were played with stones from the bottom of rivers on frozen ponds, lochs and marshes. The earliest known curling stones are from around 1511 in the Perth region of Scotland. The earliest reports of curling come from Paisley Abbey, Scotland in 1541. In the 1600's stones with handles were introduced allowing the same kind of play as today.

Famous Founders:

The Norway Olympic team is one of the best curling teams in the Olympics with six gold medals. In the 2002 games Norway had a hard time in the preliminary and semifinal rounds but in the final Norway beat Canada 6-5 which was an upset.

Skiing

Since: 1924, Paris, France

History:
It wasn't long before man figured out how to get through deep snow very fast. In the 1930's ancient skis were discovered in Russia that were more than 6000 years old. Until recently skis have been used to transport goods and people as well as soldiers on remote icy borders. Skis have become a very common recreational activity. The Olympics offer four events for skiers to compete in.

Alpine Skiing

In Alpine there are four events. Downhill is a long course were skiers go the fastest of any event and the fastest times move on to the next round. The next is Super-G. Super-G is super giant slalom, an event that combines the speed of downhill with the quick turning of giant slalom. Giant slalom is a version of slalom but with fewer wider turns. The slalom course is the shortest with quick turns. The skiers make two runs and the run times are added together to produce the score.

Freestyle Skiing

Freestyle skiing started in the U.S in the 1960's. It was originally a cross between alpine skiing and acrobatics. Freestyle skiing was first recognized as a Olympic competition in 1979 when the International Ski Federation started standardizing jump techniques and creating rules to eliminate some of the more dangerous aspects of Freestyle. Freestyle has two events moguls and aerial. Moguls is a timed run down a heavily moguled course with two jumps thrown in. The aerials competition consists of two jumps that are scored and the best scores move on to the next round.

Ski Jumping

Ski jumping has been part of the Olympic games since the first winter Olympics in 1924. Three ski jumping events are played in the Olympic games. Large hill is a 100 meter jump and small hill is a 50 to 75 meter jump. Team jumping has four team members that each jump for a combined score.

Famous Founders:

                    Kjetil Andre Aamodt

            Andre was the first skier to win seven medals. Just months before the Olympic games Andre was hospitalized with mono. (A disease that leaves you tired and weak.) During his sickness he lost 22 pounds and had to be drip-fed. Remarkably he returned to the Olympics three months later and won. Over his currently 14 years of Olympic skiing he has won eight medals (an alpine skiing record) and he is still going strong.

Snowboarding

Since: 1998, Nagano, Japan

History:

The snowboard was invented in the 1960's in the United States. Surfers and snowboards connected and in 1980 snowboarding was a nationwide activity. The next step was competition which was introduced in the 1980's. The first national championship was in 1982 and the U.S hosted the first world championship in 1983. Snowboarding was introduced into the Olympics in 1998. There were two events, halfpipe and giant slalom. Now three events are in the Olympics, halfpipe, giant slalom and snowboard cross.

Halfpipe

The Halfpipe competition takes place in a half cylinder shaped course where snowboarders try to do hard tricks off the rim of the pipe. The more difficult and complex the series of tricks the better the score.

Slalom

Snowboarders battle it out side by side in the slalom event. Contestants try to go from gate to gate down the mountain as fast as they can. After the qualification round there is an exciting 16 person tournament until the winner is found.

Snowboard cross

Snowboard cross is a challenging coarse of jumps and obstacles where four contestants race simultaneously and the top two finishers move on to the next round. Snowboard Cross is always a very popular event because of its intense formula 1 feel.

Famous Founders:

                   Shaun White

            At the age of six Shaun White took up snowboarding to copy his older brother. Despite some pretty bad falls, Shaun learned the difficulties of the board and was competing less than a year later. Shaun won almost all the competitions he entered and he became one of the youngest snowboarders to ever be sponsored by a major brand. At his first X-Games Shaun took a few gold medals and was already known around the world. In the 2006 Olympic games Shaun was competing in the Half Pipe competition when he suffered a fall in the first heat of the qualifying round. After a close call Shaun went on to the final. With a almost perfect 47.9 out of a possible 50 Shaun earned a gold medal. Since then Shaun has gone on to win many more competitions and multiplied his fame.

Ice Hockey

Since: 1920, Antwerp, Belgium

History:
The word hockey comes from the old French word “hocquet”, meaning stick. There is no absolute answer to who originated hockey but there is a belief that the British brought it to North America. Soldiers in Nova Scotia and Canada joined in the first games. Hockey’s first rules came from students at McGill University, Canada. The sport migrated south to the United States in the 1890’s. It was in the first ever Winter Olympic Games in 1924 in Chamonix

Famous Founders:

              “The Miracle on Ice” was a nickname given to a men’s ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympic Games. The team was a group of amateur and collegiate players from the United States, led by coach Herb Brooks, they defeated the Soviet Union team, who was considered to be the best international team in the world. The team members were Bill Baker, Neal Broten, Dave Christian, Steve Christoff, Jim Craig, Mike Eruzione, John Harrington, Steve Janaszak, Mark Johnson, Rob McClanahan, Ken Morrow, Jack O’Callahan, Mark Pavelich, Mike Ramsey, Buzz Schneider, Dave Silk, Eric Strobel, Bob Suter, Phil Verchota, and Mark Wells.