Winter sports could not exist without snow and ice. Most of them are very popular among lovers of an active lifestyle. It is noteworthy that almost all winter sports, the list of which is constantly expanding, are included in the competitive program of the Olympic Games. Let us consider in more detail some of them.
Unpredictable racing
Mountain snowboard (freeride) - a spectacle as impressive as it is dangerous. The competition takes place outside the serviced and prepared track. Professionals in this matter note that it is untouched snow that is the best surface for revealing all the possibilities of such a sports equipment as a mountain snowboard. It is better for beginners not to tempt fate, since unfamiliar areas are fraught with many dangers.
International freeride competitions are held annually among amateurs and professionals. This sport is divided into the following categories:
- Lightweight freeride. This option is the easiest and safest. Contestants get to the top of the mountain on a lift. The descent is not carried out on the steepest slopes.
- Backcountry. It differs from the previous one in that the athletes themselves ascend to the top. Currently, the most popular.
- Heliboarding. Participants on the mountain delivers a helicopter. An expensive form of entertainment. In some countries is prohibited.
- Catsking. A special machine (snowcat) delivers the top of the athletes. It is cheaper than halbording.
- Snowboarding. The principle of water skiing is used, only snow instead of water and snowmobile instead of a boat.
If you want to try yourself in this sport, in addition to snowboarding you will need an avalanche probe and a shovel, a beeper, a walkie-talkie, a protective helmet, as well as rescue equipment in case of an avalanche.
Adult sledges
Skeleton - a game taking place at great speed. This sport is called the same as the main projectile. Skeleton is a kind of sleigh with a weighted frame and skids made of steel. The athlete lays on them in the direction of movement. Management is carried out using special studs on the shoes.
The first competition took place in the distant 1890 in Innsbruck (Austria). In winter sports, competitions for which are held at the Olympic Games, the skeleton was later included. It happened in 1928. The first Olympic skeleton champion was Jennison Heaton from the United States of America. It is noteworthy that the silver medal went to his younger brother.
The speed of the skeleton during acceleration is about forty kilometers per hour. The maximum is 130 km / h. Compared to bobsleigh and sledding, skeleton is very dangerous. The slightest violation of the rules can lead to a fatal tragedy.
The total weight of the projectile and the athlete should not exceed 115 kilograms for men and 92 for women. If necessary, weighting of the sled with a special ballast is allowed.
Tobogganing
Athletes compete in downhill on the prepared track. They are located in a single or double sleigh on the back, legs forward. To control the projectile changes the position of the body.
The winner’s laurels go to the one who will be at the finish line as quickly as possible. If the athlete finishes separately from the sled, he will be disqualified. In the event of a fall from the projectile, stopping, sleighing and continuing the descent are allowed.
The device of the sled and their weight are indicated in the regulations. Certain restrictions are placed on the equipment of athletes and their weight. During the preliminary competitions, the start order is established.
Competitions can be held both on natural and artificial routes. The latter are specially designed for competitions. Luge is very popular in alpine countries. There are all natural, as well as most artificial tracks.
The ski is calling
Cross-country skiing takes place on a specially prepared track. The competition involves persons of a certain category - gender, age, etc. For the first time, competitions in this sport were held in 1767 in Norway. Finns and Swedes soon followed the example of the Norwegians. Then the passion for skiing swept Central Europe. By the year 2000, there were just under one hundred national ski federations.
Cross-country skiing can be held in both classic and free riding style. Let's consider them in more detail:
- The classic version involves the movement of a skier along a previously prepared track, which is two parallel lines. Standard ski runs are divided into alternating and simultaneous (the classification, as you might guess, is based on the stick repulsion method). The number of steps in one cycle determines a stepless, four-step or two-step move. The most common is the last option. This method of movement helps to achieve maximum speed on flat and gentle zones (slope - no more than two degrees or no more than five with excellent glide and elevations of medium steepness).
- Free style implies complete freedom of action for the skier. The athlete himself chooses the best option for movement at a distance. This style is called an analogue of the ridge. Professionals prefer simultaneous one-step skating or simultaneous two-step.
We list and briefly describe the standard types of ski racing:
- Competitions with separate start. Skiers start in a certain sequence and at a set interval. As a rule, this is thirty seconds, less often 1 minute or 15 seconds. The sequence helps to determine the draw or the current position of the athletes in the ranking. The strongest start last. When calculating the final result, the starting time is taken away from the finish time of each skier.
- Mass start. All athletes begin to compete at the same time. The most profitable places go to those skiers who showed themselves best in the previous stages of the competition.
- Persyut. This type of race is a combined competition involving several stages. The results of previous competitions determine the starting position of skiers. Usually, a persuit takes place in two stages, on one of which the participants run in a free style, and on the other a classic one. Such races are held either in two days, or with a break of several hours.
- Relays involve a competition of teams of four skiers. The competition is held in four stages. It all starts with a mass start. The method of passing the baton is touching the partner with the palm of the hand, both athletes must be in a special area (the place of transfer of the baton).
- Individual sprint. Competitions begin with a separate start. He is qualifying. After that, skiers compete in a sprint. As a rule, no more than thirty athletes reach the final races. The quarter-finals, then the semi-finals, and then the finals B and A.
- Team sprint is a relay race. Each team has two athletes. Running from three to six laps of the track, they alternately replace each other. If there are a lot of declared teams, semi-final competitions (two) are held.
In official competitions, the distance can range from eight hundred meters to fifty kilometers.
Leap into the unknown
Winter sports include ski jumping from pre-equipped ski jumps. Such competitions can be included in ski biathlon or held separately.
This sport came to us from Norway. In this country for a long time compete in slalom - skiing from the mountains. It is included in the Winter Olympics. The sports in which they compete for the coveted medals, jumps from the seventy-meter springboard were replenished in 1924. Only then male athletes can participate in this competition both then and now.
At present, ski jumping can be carried out both in summer and in winter. The most significant are the starts, which are held in the winter season on ninety-meter (and higher) ski jumps.
Let's talk about the technique of this sport. The basic elements are acceleration, departure from the separation table, flight phase, landing. An important role is played by the athlete's ability to competently coordinate their movements.
In the phase of flight, the legs of the skier are on the same plane. At the landing stage, the lower extremities should take a position called the fungus (telemark). To do this, one leg is set forward, the other is laid back, both bend at the knees. Spaced arms are wider than shoulders. Skis at this moment should be as close as possible and parallel to each other. Successful landing provides perfect balance and high motor coordination. With incorrect performance of the stretching, the athlete loses precious points. Judges scrupulously evaluate the landing of the skier. Touching the mountain surface with any part of the body, unnecessary movements, loss of balance, falling - all this is fraught with a decrease in points. It is noteworthy that if an athlete fell beyond a special feature, this will not affect the overall result.
The jumping technique is evaluated by five judges. The maximum possible score is twenty. Estimates for the range of the jump are added to the amount received (calculated according to a special table).
Run faster, shoot more accurately
Are you interested in a sport like biathlon? We describe the basic rules of the competition and the individual stages of this exciting action.
- Individual race. Biathlon was born precisely from this type of competition. This is the oldest discipline. Skiers go to the start with a difference of 30-60 seconds. The distance is twenty kilometers, the vertical drop is from 600 to 750 meters. Each athlete carries twenty rounds and a small caliber rifle weighing about three and a half kilograms. The task of skiers is to overcome four firing lines (each with five targets). Shooting is carried out sequentially, the permitted position - lying or standing. Boundaries are between the third and seventeenth and a half kilometers, the interval between them is usually three kilometers. A skier is free to choose a target on his own. The distance between the athlete and the goal is fifty meters. If a hit occurs, the target automatically closes with a white disc. A penalty entails one penalty minute. The diameter of the target for shooting in the prone position is forty-five millimeters, in the standing position - one hundred and fifteen millimeters.
- Sprint. The length of the distance is ten kilometers, the elevation difference is three hundred and four hundred and fifty meters. The time interval between the start of athletes is the same as in the individual race - thirty to sixty seconds. The first firing line is located three kilometers after the start (shooting is permitted only while lying down), the second - after seven kilometers (athletes hit the target while standing). The penalty for each miss is a penalty loop 150 meters long. In order to overcome it, the skier spends, as a rule, 20-25 seconds. The strongest athletes reach the finish line in twenty-four minutes (if they do not earn the penalty circles). The distance for women is seven and a half kilometers. The firing lines are two and a half and five kilometers after the start. Otherwise, there are no differences from the men's sprint.
- Lovers consider the relay race to be the most spectacular in biathlon. Teams are composed of four athletes. The match begins with a mass start. The distance that every biathlete must overcome is seven and a half kilometers. There are two firing lines. On the first shoot standing, on the second - lying down. Eight rounds are assigned to each target, five of which are already in the store, and the rest are manually charged when necessary. One miss - one penalty loop for one hundred and fifty meters. Having overcome his distance, the skier passes the baton to the next member of his team. The most experienced biathletes show such a team result: thirty kilometers in eighty minutes.
- Persuit (pursuit). This type of competition first entered the program of the championship and world cup in 1996. Sixty biathletes start. The race, as a rule, takes no more than half an hour. This allows competitions of this type to successfully fit into the network of television broadcasts. The order and intervals of the participants determine the results of the sprint race. Competitions are unpredictable, because leaders often succeed each other due to inaccurate hits on the target. The distance for male athletes is twelve and a half kilometers. Women cover a distance of ten kilometers. They fire while lying on the first two firing lines, while standing on the last two. So, skiers confidently shooting in a horizontal position have a chance to break ahead at the beginning of the competition. Athletes who precisely hit targets while standing get the opportunity to take a leading position at the finish. Accuracy in this case is the key to a successful performance, which can not be said about the sprint, where annoying misses can be offset by speed. The punishment for not reaching the target is standard - one hundred fifty penalty meters. Since 2002, persuit has been included in winter sports, for which you can get a medal at the Olympic Games.
- Mass start involves the participation of twenty-seven athletes who have shown themselves better than others at the World Cup. Competition rules are similar to individual race. The exception is the length of the distance (it is shorter) and the position when shooting (lying, lying, standing, standing).
Speed sled
Descent from the mountains at high speed on beans on specially equipped tracks for this is an Olympic sport. Bobsleigh is from Switzerland. In 1888, Wilson Smith came up with the idea of connecting two pairs of sleds to quickly move from St. Moritz to Celerina, geographically located a little lower. The first bobsleigh club in the world was formed at the end of the nineteenth century. Then the basic rules were developed. It is noteworthy that the sled crew was then a team of five athletes - two women and three men.
All bobsleigh sleds are made according to a single project - an all-metal body, streamlined shape, two pairs of skates-runners (the front is movable, it is controlled using it; the rear is motionless, it is responsible for braking).
The competition currently uses double and quadruple bobsledding. The parameters of the “two” are as follows: weight - not more than one hundred sixty five kilograms, length - not more than 2.7 meters. "Four" should be no longer than 3.8 meters and not heavier than two hundred and thirty kilograms.
What is a bobsled track? This is an ice gutter located on a reinforced concrete base, designed with numerous turns and turns. The total length of the route can vary from one and a half to two kilometers. The difference in height is from 130 to 150 meters. During the descent, the sleigh reaches a speed of 150 kilometers per hour.
Dancing on Ice
Figure skating is the movement of athletes skating on the ice surface. At the same time, additional elements are performed to the music. In official competitions, it is customary to play four sets of medals. So, athletes compete in single skating and doubles (men and women separately), as well as in sports dancing on ice.
The oldest skates that are currently known were made in the Bronze Age. They were found on one of the shores of the Southern Bug (near Odessa). For their manufacture, phalanges of the front limbs of horses were used. The first iron skates appeared in Holland. This country is considered the birthplace of figure skating. But the basic figures were invented in the UK. The first international class competition was held in Vienna in 1882.
Figure skating was common in Russia under Peter the Great. The first skates were brought to the country by him. In addition, he came up with a unique at that time way of attaching skates directly to the boots. The first public skating rink was opened in 1865 in the Yusupov Garden (Sadovaya St.).
No matter how many winter sports subsequently appeared in Russia, skates did not give up their positions. Young and old people skated every weekend. Inability to keep on ice was even considered a shameful fact.
The ski is calling!
The people of Norway were the first to know what skiing is . It was in this country at the end of the eighteenth century that they began to produce durable wooden shells for descending from the mountain slopes. The metal edging, which provided maximum ski reliability, was first installed in Austria in the early thirties of the twentieth century. With the advent of plastic, the design of the projectile was further improved. When using the above material (it covered the bottom of the projectile), athletes could develop much greater speed. The turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries was marked by the so-called carving revolution, which implied the transition to a new form of skiing. They were much shorter than their predecessors, the socks and heel became wider, and the radius of the side cut was smaller.
Winter sportsmen who prefer extreme sports choose very wide skis for freeriding. These shells are designed for riding outside specially equipped tracks on solid snow. There are several more types of alpine skiing: for ordinary, giant and super giant slalom, ski cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, for amateur skiing, aerial acrobatics, freestyle skiing, ski climbing and mogul.
By design, skis are divided into the following types:
- Sandwich Shell form layers of certain materials. They are connected like a sandwich. The stiffness is affected by the top layer.
- Cap. With this design, the rest are attached to the upper structural hard layer from below.
- "Box". The most modern option. The middle of the ski is in a kind of wrapper made of synthetic materials or in a metal braid. Such a product is more stable during bends and less sensitive to surface features.
Conclusion
We partially examined what winter sports are, what is the history of their appearance and main features. In addition to the above, you can also distinguish ski biathlon, moguls, snowkiting, orienteering on skis, hockey (with ball and puck), nurban, curling. In addition, there are winter sailing sports. Among them are the following: winter windsurfing and kiteselling, ice boating. More and more interest among lovers of a healthy lifestyle is winter swimming. In this sport even competitions of world significance are held.