Alpine Skiing

Alpine skiing is one of the blue riband sports of the Winter Olympic Games. It involves all skiing events which occur on a downhill course and do not involve ramps or awkward bumps (freestyle).

Biathlon

Biathlon is the ultimate combination of physical stamina and strength, but also a capacity for concentration and considerable technical abilities.

Bobsleigh

Ask people about the sport of bobsleigh and many immediately think of the movie Cool Runnings featuring the Jamaican bobsleigh team. Get them to think about it more and they are blown away by the skill, explosive power and extreme danger that comprises ‘Formula 1 on ice’.

Cross Country Skiing

Cross country is one of the most demanding aerobic sports in the world. It is also the oldest form of competitive skiing and one of the classic Olympic sports, being contested at every Games since the Winter Olympics began in 1924.

Curling

The curling finals at Torino 2006 were among the most intense and memorable of any medals decided at those Games. With the Canadians defending men’s champions and the women third behind Sweden the local support will be enormous.

Figure Skating

Figure skating always attracts the highest TV ratings of any Winter Olympic sport and without doubt the winners will become household names (for a while) and there is always some drama.

Freestyle Skiing

Cypress Mountain, 30 minutes outside of Vancouver, is the venue most likely to bring podium celebrations for the Australian Team. Dale Begg-Smith is defending moguls champion and in women’s aerials Lydia Lassila is World No.1 and Jacqui Cooper World Championship bronze medallist.

Ice Hockey

Tickets to the men’s ice hockey final are the most sought after seats for the entire Games. Canada’s national sport is ice hockey and both of their teams are in with a great shot at gold. The love of this sport throughout Canada is like AFL in Melbourne.

Luge

Expect some scorching speeds and crazy spills when luge athletes hit the fastest track in the world at Whistler Sliding Centre. Medals will be decided by one-thousandths of a second and one mistake will blow any chance of reaching the podium.

Nordic Combined

Few winter sports disciplines, if any, are as demanding as the nordic combined, which requires the diverse combination of superior ski jumping skills and cross country endurance.

Short Track Speed Skating

Anything can happen in short track speed skating as Steven Bradbury and the rest of Australian sport fans know all too well. Sometimes the last man standing can be the winner!

Skeleton

For most people flying head first down an ice tunnel on a sled the size of a McDonald’s tray, with the very real risk of serious injury, is considered ridiculous. But for the skilful and fearless elite skeleton athletes of the world it is a normal thing to do.

Ski Jumping

There is no room in ski jumping for one gram of fear. These young athletes come closer than any other humans to truly flying. They travel further than a football field and then land on snow as if they are stepping off a bus. It is a tricky blend of nerves, sheer power (at take off) and a nearly scientific application of basic flight properties.

Snowboard

At resorts and terrain all over the world there is a friendly rivalry between skiers and snowboarders. Snowboarding is the newer discipline that took off around the world around the same time the sport was introduced to the Olympic Games as an official event at Nagano 1998.

Speed Skating

Speed skaters are amazing athletes who make flying around a sheet of ice, including the tight corners, seem effortless. It is the sport that attracts some of the most colourful and noisy spectators at the Games – especially the Scandinavians.