The 2014 Winter Olympics will be taking place in Sochi, Russia. The opening ceremony was on Feb. 7 with the closing ceremony on Feb. 23. There are 98 events in 15 discipline sports scheduled with a total of 88 nations participating.

Bobsled

Bobsleigh is a sport in which teams of two or four ride down a narrow ice track on a sled. The times of each run are combined to calculate the final score. The crew pushes the sled for 50 meters before making the run down the course, which is also known as a heat. Race times are recorded in hundredths of seconds and can impact the score greatly. In the Winter Olympics, all competitions consist of four heats.

Figure skating

Figure skating has been a part of the Winter Olympics since 1924. Ice skating events consist of men’s singles, ladies’ singles, pairs and ice dancing. The USA is ranked first for most medals earned for figure skating. Points are awarded individually for every skating technique shown and the sum of these scores is the total score.

Curling

Curling is a sport that involves two teams at a time, each with four players, taking turns sliding stones across ice toward a target with four rings. Each team has eight stones and attempts to meet the goal of achieving the highest score. Points are made by the stone resting closest to the center. Curling has been given the nickname “chess on ice.”

Biathlon

Biathlon is a race where contestants ski on a cross-county track and the distance is broken up by shooting rounds. The rounds are done half in prone position and the other half of the rounds are done in a standing position. Time can be added to a racer’s total time based on shooting performance. The racers are timed on how long it takes to finish the race and the racer with the shortest amount of time wins the round.

Snowboarding

Snowboarding at the Winter Olympics is made up of different events for both men and women. The events are the halfpipe, parallel giant slalom, parallel slalom, slopestyle and snowboard cross. The USA is ranked number one for most medals won for snowboarding. Shaun White and Seth Wescott are the only double gold medalists for the United States in snowboarding.

staff writer