Do you like to watch the Winter Olympic games? They sure are a big hit! Around 1.9 billion people watch the games. In this article I am going to be writing about the top three Winter Olympic sports. I will be giving a brief rundown on what they are and explain each one.
According to YouGovSport, figure skating is the most popular sport in the Winter Olympic games. This event consists of men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Ice dancing joined as one of the sports in 1976, so it has been involved in the Olympics for a shorter amount of time than other sports. Figure skating is a sport where individuals perform spins, jumps and many other moves while on ice skates. The olympians are skating on ice with steel blades. Roughly 40% of people watch figure skating each year.
Ski jumping is the second-most popular Winter Olympic sport. The ski jumping event is when skiers try to get the farthest jump on skis. The competitors get pushed down a ramp to start their jump. The ramp curves upwards at the end, launching the skiers into the air. The score of the skiers’ jumps are factored by many things, not just how far they are jumping. The skier's total score is put together by total distance and style of the jump. Distance is calculated from the take off point and where the skier's feet hit the ground at the bottom of the hill. The judges are the ones who add style points. According to Britannica , ski jumping was added into the Olympics in 1924. They changed the hill size in 1964 by making it larger. There is a women’s and men’s division in this event. As mentioned on YouGovSport, about 33% of people watch ski jumping.
Speed skating is the third-most popular Winter Olympic event. Speed skaters don't use a regular ice skate; they use clap skates. The blade on clap skates detaches at the heel so that the whole blade stays on the ice. The skates have a spring-loaded hinge. According to NBC, these are only for long track skating. For this event there are different distances that competitors can race. There are three divisions of speed skating, which include short track speed skating, long track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. The speed skaters skate around a track. Speed skating is originally from the Netherlands.
The Winter Olympic games started on February 4th. They will last until February 20th. Personally, my favorite event in the Winter Olympics is figure skating. It is my favorite because I love to see all of the amazing things that the figure skaters can do on ice. They are extremely talented and so fun to watch!
Paige Herschman, a freshman at Middle Creek, states that her favorite Winter Olympic sport is also figure skating. “I like the music and the cool turns they do.” Herschman says that she would not want to participate in the Winter Olympics ”because I hate the cold.” When asked if she likes to watch ski jumping, she said, “Yes, I like to watch ski jumping. It's my second favorite.”
The Olympics are very popular all around the world and are such an exciting event to watch! Be sure to tune in before they are over!
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