Five Olympic winter sports

bobsleigh

Bobsleigh has been an Olympic sport since 1924. There are three parts to the winter games: two-man bob and four-man bob for the men and for the last few years there has also been a two-man bob for the women. Each part consists of four attempts (also known as motos). You ride two motos in one day.

Bobsleigh is a sport in which you complete an ice course with many turns in a steerable sled. The first 50 meters of the course you make running speed. Such a bobsled can reach 150 kilometers per hour. This speed makes corners very difficult to take, so you must have good technique.

biathlon

In the past, soldiers on cross-country skis had to shoot at targets for practice when it was winter. Biathlon (also often written as biathlon) dates from this time. The aim of biathlon is for the player to cross-country ski as quickly as possible and then shoot at five targets. These targets are 50 or 100 meters away and he must hit while lying, squatting or standing. If the player misses, he has to cross-country ski a penalty lap and this of course takes time.

The difficult thing about biathlon is that you have to come from a hard effort during cross-country skiing to rest during shooting. Shooting is best with a low heart rate. So the player has to choose whether he goes fast during cross-country skiing and arrives with a high heart rate when shooting or whether he slows down a bit during cross-country and can shoot better again. As a result, it often remains exciting (especially for the viewer on television) until the end.

For the fanatic there is also summer biathlon. Instead of skiing, you run a certain distance.

curling

Curling has been an official winter Olympic sport since 1998. The thrower, also called a skip, “slides” a large, heavy, granite stone of almost 20 kilograms over smooth ice. He or she does this with a slight twist to the left or right: the curl. This is where the name curling comes from.

The intention is that the stone remains stationary in exactly the right place: in the bull’s eye. For this, blue and red circles have been drawn in the ice like a dartboard. The rose is also called the house and the center of the rose is called the dolly. The remaining teammates follow the stone to the side and sweep in front of the stone with a special broom. With this they influence the path of the stone and increase its speed if necessary.

A match consists of ten rounds, also called ends. There are always two teams with four players each. Each team member may throw twice per end. A team scores points if their stones are closest to the dolly after everyone has been in an end. In curling, cooperation is very important, but so is individual performance. You have to work with precision and control.

Ice hockey

Ice hockey is a popular Olympic sport. It has been on the Olympic program since 1920. It was not until 1998 that there was a section for women. Ice hockey is especially popular in Europe and North America and is a very intensive sport. Just as football is the biggest sport in the Netherlands in the Netherlands, it is ice hockey in Canada. The players move quickly and a lot of physical contact is allowed.

The goal of ice hockey is very simple: to score goals. The game is played with a puck: a flat disc of rubber. This may be played with the stick or the skate. He may also fly through the air and the players may use their hands to get him to the ground. They are not allowed to play with their hands.

An ice hockey team consists of six players. One goalkeeper (goalie), three attackers (forwards) and two defenders (defensmen). You can switch without limitation, the game continues as usual.

Because it is a physical sport, the players are well protected. They have a helmet, shin and elbow protection, chest and shoulder protection and gloves. The goalie is even better wrapped.

tobogganing

Tobogganing, like bobsleigh, is part of the sledding sport. Sledding started as a means of transport, but today it is a fun pastime. Children often already do sledding, but it can also be practiced as an official sport.

When tobogganing, the participant lies on his/her back on a narrow sled, with his feet pointing towards the valley. The participants toboggan on special, prepared toboggan runs. As a result, these have no bumps and potholes. In addition, there are extra corners to make tobogganing more difficult. The sled has movable parts that you use to steer. The goal is to get down as quickly as possible. Speeds of up to 140 kilometers per hour have been achieved.

Tobogganing has been on the program of the Olympic Games since 1964. For the men there is a single and a double part, for the women only a single. Single means you’re on a tobogganing sled on your own and double with the two of you. There is also a team relay. In the singles, a part consists of four runs, in the doubles of two runs. The times are added together and the one or the team with the fastest time wins.

Do it yourself

In principle, you can also practice all these sports yourself. Go to an association where they offer the sport. One is a bit more difficult than the other. For example, ice hockey, biathlon, bobsleigh and curling are sports that are not much practiced in this country and they require a lot of technique and training.

This is also necessary for Olympic luge, but there are also easy variants. For example, tobogganing actually means sledding and you can of course do this every winter when there is snow. Moreover, in the Netherlands there are several toboggan runs without snow. Many amusement parks have a toboggan run, where you go down while sitting in a cart. Here you can determine the speed yourself, but not the course. You can also toboggan well in Valkenburg (Limburg) and there are a number of toboggan runs in Germany.

There is a large sports center in Arnhem: Papendal. At this sports center you have the opportunity to practice bobsleigh, biathlon or curling.