SKIING > SNOWBOARD

ABOUT

For the first time in the history of the Olympic Winter Games, snowboarding was introduced as an official event with giant slalom and halfpipe featured at the Nagano Games in 1998. Snowboarding was developed in the United States in the 1960s as people across the country began to seek out new winter activities. Over the next decade, different pioneers boosted the production of boards and the overall interest in snowboarding. Surfers and skateboarders became involved, and by 1980, snowboarding was a nationwide activity. Competition was the next logical step. Competition and national and international federation influence began in the 1980s. The United States held its first national championships in 1982 and hosted the first World Championships in 1983. In 1987, a four-stop World Cup tour was established, with two stops in the United States and two in Europe. The International Snowboarding Federation (ISF) was formed in 1990 and on request of the International Ski Federation (FIS) National Ski Associations, many of which organised ski and snowboard competitions, the FIS introduced Snowboarding as a FIS discipline in 1994. This enabled snowboarding’s eligibility for the Olympic Winter Games, and the discipline was added to the Olympic programme as of the 1998 Games in Nagano (JPN).

COMPETITION

There are six snowboard events on the programme of the Olympic Winter Games: men’s halfpipe, ladies’ halfpipe, men’s parallel giant slalom and ladies’ parallel giant slalom, men’s snowboard cross and ladies’ snowboard cross. Both halfpipe and giant slalom events were staged at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games, where the sport of snowboarding made its debut. The parallel giant slalom events appeared on the Salt Lake City Olympic programme for the first time, replacing the two giant slalom events that were contested in Nagano.

Halfpipe
The halfpipe competition takes place in a half-cylinder-shaped course dug deep into the hill. Using speed gained on the slope, snowboarders come up over the rim of the pipe and perform acrobatic aerial tricks. The object of the halfpipe is to perform difficult tricks with perfect form.

Alpine - Parallel giant slalom
An exciting version of Alpine snowboarding, parallel giant slalom features head-to-head matches on the mountain. After the qualification round, a 16-person tournament is established and competitors battle it out on two side-by-side courses until there is a winner.

Snowboard Cross
A challenging route including jumps and obstacles conveys a “Formula One” atmosphere. The heats consist of four riders who start at the same time, whereby the best two in the finish proceed to the next round.

LIST OF EVENTS *

• - Giant parallel slalom Men
  - Half-pipe Men
  - Snowboard Cross Men
  

• - Giant parallel slalom Women
  - Half-pipe Women
  - Snowboard Cross Women
  

* On the Programme of the XX Olympic Winter Games, Torino 2006

SKIING > SKI JUMPING

ABOUT

Ski jumping has been part of the Olympic Winter Games since the first Games in Chamonix Mont-Blanc in 1924. The Large Hill competition was included on the Olympic programme for the 1964 Olympic Games in Innsbruck.

COMPETITION

Three ski jumping events are held at the Olympic Games:

Individual normal hill
The only ski jumping event from the normal hill, which has a K-point between 75 and 99 metres high. There are two jumps (first and final round), and the athlete with the highest total score is declared the winner. After a qualification round, there are 50 athletes participating in the first round. In the final round the field is reduced to 30 athletes.

Individual large hill
This event is contested on the large hill, which has a K-point larger than 100 metres. There are two jumps (first and final round), and the athlete with the highest total score is declared the winner. After a qualification in the first round there are are 50 athletes participating. In the final round the field is reduced to 30 athletes.

Team Event
This event is usually contested on the large hill. There are four members on each team, and there are two jumps (first and final round). In the first round all teams start. In the final round the field is reduced on the eight best teams. The team with the highest total score over the eight jumps is declared the winner.

LIST OF EVENTS *

• - K120 individual (90m) Men
  

• - K120 team (90m) Men
  - K90 individual (70m) Men
  

* On the Programme of the XX Olympic Winter Games, Torino 2006

Nordic Combined

ABOUT

Nordic combined has its 5,000 year-old roots in Norway. It involves ski jumping, which requires physical strength and technical control, and cross-country skiing which demands endurance and strength. Nordic combined individual events have been included since the 1st Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix - Mont Blanc in 1924.

COMPETITION

All three Nordic combined events consist of a ski jumping competition and a cross-country skiing race. For the Individual Gundersen event, ski jumping takes place on the normal hill (90 metres). For the Team and the sprint events, ski jumping takes place on the large hill (120m). The cross-country portion of the Individual Gundersen event has a 15km race, the sprint event has a 7.5km race, and the team event has a 4x5km relay.

Individual Gundersen
Each competitor in the Individual Gundersen event takes two jumps on the normal hill during the first part of the competition. Each jump is scored for length and style. In the second part of the competition, each competitor participates in the 15km cross-country race. The start order for this race is determined by the ski jumping results. The winner of the ski jumping competition starts in first place and the points from ski jumping are converted into time differences for the starting order of the cross-country race.

Sprint
The sprint event is contested with a large-hill competition and a 7.5km cross-country race. Unlike in the individual Gundersen event, the ski jumping portion of the sprint event is performed on the large hill and includes one jump instead of two. In the second part of the competition, each competitor will compete in the 7.5km cross-country event. The start order for this race is determined on the basis of the ski jumping results. The winner of the ski jumping competition starts in first place and the points from ski jumping are converted into time differences for the starting order of the cross-country race.

Team
Each team consists of four jumpers who take two jumps off the normal hill on the first part of the competition. The team's score in the jumping portion is the total score of the eight jumps. The same skiers who participate in the jumping must compete in the 4x5km relay. As in the Individual Gundersen and SPRINT events, the Gundersen Method is used to determine the start times in the relay. The winner is the team whose final skier crosses the finish line first.

LIST OF EVENTS *

• - individual Men
  

• - sprint Men
  - Team Men
  

* On the Programme of the XX Olympic Winter Games, Torino 2006

SKIING > FREESTYLE SKIING

ABOUT

It has been suggested that, Freestyle skiing is a product of America in the 1960s, when social change and freedom of expression led to new and exciting skiing techniques. Originally a mix of alpine skiing and acrobatics, freestyle skiing developed over the decades into the present-day Olympic sport. The International Ski Federation (FIS) recognised freestyle as a discipline in 1979 and brought in new regulations regarding certification of athletes and jump techniques in an effort to curb some of the dangerous elements of the competitions. The first FIS World Cup series was staged in 1980 and the first FIS World Championships took place in 1986 in Tignes, France, featuring moguls, aerials and ballet. Freestyle skiing, where skiers perform aerial manoeuvres while skiing downhill, was a demonstration event at the Winter Olympic Games in Calgary in 1988. Mogul skiing was added to the official programme of the Albertville Games in 1992 and Aerials were added at the Lillehammer Games in 1994.

COMPETITION

Moguls
The moguls competition consists of a run down a heavily moguled course with two jumps. The Olympic format is a one-run elimination round followed by a one-run final of 16 20 women and 16 20 men. In the finals, competitors ski in the reverse order of their finish in the qualification round. The skier with the highest score in the final round wins.

Aerials
The Olympic aerial format consists of a two-jump qualification followed by a two-jump final. The combined scores from the two jumps in the qualification round determine who qualifies for the finals, with 12 men and 12 women advancing to the finals. Scores from the qualification round do not carry over to the finals.

LIST OF EVENTS *

• - aerials Men
  - moguls Men
  

• - aerials Women
  - moguls Women
  

* On the Programme of the XX Olympic Winter Games, Torino 2006

SKIING > CROSS COUNTRY SKIING

ABOUT

There is evidence that primitive skis were used in Norway over 5000 years ago. As early as the 10th century, Vikings used skis for transportation. It wasn't until the 19th century, however, that ski competitions came into existence, starting in Norway. The famous Holmenkollen ski festival was started in 1892. At first, the main focus of these Nordic festivals was the Nordic combined event - cross-country skiing and ski jumping. In 1900, a separate cross-country race was held at the Holmenkollen.

COMPETITION

At the Olympic Winter Games, the cross-country discipline comprises twelve different cross-country skiing events. Women compete in the sprint, team sprint, 10km individual start, 15km pursuit, 30km mass start and the 4x5km relay. Men compete in the sprint, team sprint, 15km individual start, 30km pursuit, 50km mass start and the 4x10km relay.

Sprint Events
The sprint begins with individual time trials on the sprint course with a 15-second interval start. The fastest 16 athletes move on to elimination heats. The top two finishers in each quarter-final advance to the semi-final rounds, which are held as two heats of four athletes each. The final round consists of one heat of four athletes (two from each semi-final heat).

Team Sprint Events
The team sprint event consists of semi-finals and final rounds. In the semi-final heats there are 10 or more teams consisting of two athletes (A and B) who perform the relay three times (A, B, A, B, A, B). The best five teams qualify for the final.

Pursuit Events
The pursuit events have a mass start and the athletes use both techniques within the same race. During a pit stop at the stadium after half of the race distance has been completed, the athletes change equipment from the classical to free technique.

Mass Start
Competitors start simultaneously, lined up in rows. The first competitor across the finish line wins the race.

Interval Start
Competitors start in intervals of 30 or 15 seconds depending on the event. The athlete with the fastest individual time wins.

Relays
A team consists of four athletes, each of whom skis one leg of the race and then tags off to a team-mate. The relay has a mass start.

LIST OF EVENTS *

• - 10km pursuit Men
  - 15km Men
  - 30km mass start Men
  - 4x10km relay Men
  - 50km Men
  - Sprint 1,5km Men
  

• - 10km Women
  - 15km mass start Women
  - 30km Women
  - 4x5km relay Women
  - 5km pursuit Women
  - sprint 1.5km Women
  

* On the Programme of the XX Olympic Winter Games, Torino 2006

SKIING > ALPINE SKIING

ABOUT

People began strapping skis to their feet as far back as 5000 years ago. It is believed that Norwegians were the first - they used skis as a way of hunting across snow-covered terrain. From Norway, skiing spread throughout Scandinavia and Russia as a mode of winter transportation and eventually as a sport similar to cross-country skiing. Alpine skiing evolved from cross-country skiing. The first alpine skiing competition, a primitive downhill, was held in the 1850s in Oslo. A few decades later, the sport spread to the remainder of Europe and to the United States, where miners held skiing competitions to entertain themselves during the winter.

The first slalom was organised in 1922 in Mürren, Switzerland, and two years later such a race became the first Olympic Alpine event. The Arlberg-Kandahar, a combined slalom and downhill event, is now referred to as the first legitimate Alpine event - the race that planted the seed for Alpine's inclusion in the Olympic programme.

Alpine skiing became part of the Olympic programme at the 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Games with a men's and women's combined event.

COMPETITION

The Olympic Alpine competition consists of ten events: five for women and five for men. The rules are the same for men and women, but the courses differ. In all cases, time is measured to .01 seconds and ties are permitted.

THE ALPINE EVENTS ARE:

Downhill: The downhill features the longest course and the highest speeds in Alpine skiing. Each skier makes a single run down a single course and the fastest time determines the winner.

Super-G: Super-G stands for super giant slalom, an event that combines the speed of downhill with the more precise turns of giant slalom. The course is shorter than downhill but longer than a giant slalom course. Each skier makes one run down a single course and the fastest time determines the winner.

Giant slalom: Also known as the GS. It is a similar version to the slalom, with fewer turns and wider, smoother turns. Each skier makes two runs down two different courses on the same slope. Both runs take place on the same day, usually with the first run held in the morning and the second run in the afternoon. The times are added, and the fastest total time determines the winner.

Slalom: The slalom features the shortest course and the quickest turns. As in the giant slalom, each skier makes two runs down two different courses on the same slope. Both runs take place on the same day. The times are added and the fastest total time determines the winner.

Combined: The combined event consists of one downhill followed by two slalom runs. The times are added together and the fastest total time determines the winner. The combined downhill and the combined slalom are contested independently of the regular downhill and slalom events, and the combined courses are shorter than the regular versions. In 2002, for the first time at an Olympic Winter Games, the entire combined event is being held on a single day at the same venue. Also, the combined slalom is held on the lower part of the combined downhill slope, which has not always been the case.

LIST OF EVENTS *

• - alpine combined Men
  - downhill Men
  - giant slalom Men
  - slalom Men
  - super-G Men
  

• - alpine combined Women
  - downhill Women
  - giant slalom Women
  - slalom Women
  - super-G Women
  

* On the Programme of the XX Olympic Winter Games, Torino 2006

SKIING

Olympic sport since 1924

ABOUT

It was not long before Man worked out how to move quickly through deep snow in the wilder parts of the world, as paintings discovered in the 1930s clearly portray. On the ancient artefacts, which were found in Russia and are thought to be at least 6000 years old, a hunter on rudimentary skis is clearly identifiable alongside reindeers. It is virtually certain that a form of skiing has been an integral part of life in colder countries since that time.

Obviously the principal use of skis until recently was for the transportation of goods and people or for the swift movement of soldiers patrolling remote, icy borders. Horses were clearly not much use in three metres of snow, so other methods had to be developed and skis quickly became as natural an accoutrement of everyday life as hats and gloves.

The Olympic Winter Games present five disciplines of Skiing: Alpine, Cross Country, Ski Jumping, Nordic Combined, Freestyle as well as Snowboarding. To compete in these various disciplines one needs to master speed, endurance, dexterity, and determination.

SKATING > SPEED SKATING

ABOUT

It is believed that skates were developed about 3000 years ago in Scandinavia. In the Netherlands, skating served as a way to travel over the canals in winter and the Dutch are still among the world's most avid skaters.

Although the Netherlands is the birthplace of speed skating, the first known skating competition is thought to have been held in 1676. Competitions sprung up across the northern part of Europe shortly after, but the first official speed skating events were not held until 1863 in Oslo, Norway. In 1889, the Netherlands hosted the first World Championships, bringing together the Dutch, Russians, Americans and English.

Speed Skating has been a part of the Olympic programme since the 1st Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix Mont Blanc in 1924. Originally only men participated, but women's events were included in the 1960 Squaw Valley Games.

COMPETITION

Speed skating at the Olympic Games consists of ten events: 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 5000m for both woman and men, 3000m for women, 10,000m for men, and Team pursuit for women and men.

All events are skated once, with the exception of the men's and women's 500 metres, which are skated twice.

The final result is based on the total time of the two races.
In each event, skaters race in pairs against the clock on a standard 400m oval. Athletes are timed to a hundredth of a second as they skate counter-clockwise around the oval.

LIST OF EVENTS *

• - 10000m Men
  - 1000m Men
  - 1500m Men
  - 5000m Men
  - 500m Men
  - Team pursuit Men
  

• - 1000m Women
  - 1500m Women
  - 3000m Women
  - 5000m Women
  - 500m Women
  - Team pursuit Women
  

* On the Programme of the XX Olympic Winter Games, Torino 2006

SKATING > SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING

ABOUT

Short track speed skating races began to occur in Europe shortly after speed skating became an established international sport. The International Skating Union was founded in 1892, three years after the first long-track World Championships.

Prior to the arrival of short track at the Olympics, it was common for skaters to compete in short and long-track events. Short track ovals were covered and offered a place for skaters to train all year. Many long-track racers would practice sprinting and turning techniques around the small oval. Some even competed in short track competitions. With the development of new indoor long-track facilities, the cross-sport training is not as popular anymore. Also, now that short track has become established as an Olympic sport, racers have been forced to specialise to succeed.

Short track speed skating was first included in the official programme at the XVI Olympic Winter Games in Albertville in 1992.

COMPETITION

At the Olympic Games, Short Track Speed Skating consists of eight events. Men and women compete in 500m, 1000m, and 1500m. There is a 5000m relay for men, and a 3000m relay for women.

Skaters compete not against the clock, but against each other. Four skaters compete in a race with those placed first and second advancing to the next round. Winning depends to a considerable extent on a racer's strategic skill over an opponent.

Short track speed skating is an elimination event in which athletes race in packs and try to outskate and outwit fellow competitors within their heats. Eventually, the field is narrowed to a handful of finalists. The first one to cross the finish line is the winner. Time is secondary. In fact, Olympic and world records have been set in non-medal heats.

Individual competitions begin with 32 athletes. Individual heats feature four skaters at a time in a mass start. Athletes skate counter-clockwise, and the first two across the finish line advance to the next round. Sometimes more than two advance, depending on the number of heats and the nature of any disqualifications.

The men's and women's short track relays are two-day competitions consisting of a semi-final and a final. Eight teams are divided into two heats of four. The top two teams in each semi-final advance to the final.

LIST OF EVENTS *

• - 1000m Men
  - 1500m Men
  - 5000m relay Men
  - 500m Men
  

• - 1000m Women
  - 1500m Women
  - 3000m relay Women
  - 500m Women
  

* On the Programme of the XX Olympic Winter Games, Torino 2006

SKATING > FIGURE SKATING

ABOUT

Like many winter sports, figure skating's roots grew from necessity. As a mode of transportation for warfare and hunting in Northern Europe, skating was a swift way to cross frozen lakes, ponds, rivers and streams. Warriors and hunters crafted makeshift skates of reindeer antlers or elk bones, and later iron and steel. By the 16th century, skaters were transporting goods across frozen waterways.

In 1892, the International Skating Union (ISU) was founded. Six years later, the first ISU-sanctioned event was held, and organisers hoped it might soon become an official Olympic sport. Because competitions could be held indoors, figure skating was added to the Olympic programme for the 1908 Summer Games. Figure skating became an official Olympic Winter Games sport at the 1924 Winter Games in Chamonix.

COMPETITION

There are four Olympic Figure Skating events: womens singles, men's singles, pairs, and ice dancing.

The singles event consists of two sections: the short programme, and free skating. The short programme combines eight prescribed elements such as jump combinations and spins. In the free skating programme, skaters, perform an original arrangement of techniques to music of their choice. As judges deduct points for a programme that consists of too many or too few jumps, a balanced programme is important.

The pairs event also consists of a short programme and free skating. The couple works as one unit, demonstrating overhead lifts, throw-jumps with the man launching his partner, and other manoeuvres. The performance requires harmony, strength and grace.

Ice dancing is similar to ballroom dancing. The focus is on the complex steps in time with the music. The skaters maintain contact with each other, limiting lifts and jumps.
The ice dancing event consists of three sections: compulsory, original, and free dances. In compulsory dancing, the couple performs one pre-determined dances. Original dance must follow selected rhythms, though the pair can choose their own music and interpretative steps. In free dancing the pair freely express their interpretation of the music they have chosen.

LIST OF EVENTS *

• - individual Men
  - individual Women
  

• - ice dancing Mixed
  - pairs Mixed
  

* On the Programme of the XX Olympic Winter Games, Torino 2006

SKATING

Olympic sport since 1908

ABOUT

Now somewhere between art and sport, skating on ice was, for hundreds of years, a rapid form of transportation across frozen lakes, rivers and canals, and the oldest form of skate (a length of bone attached to sandals with thongs) dates back to 20,000 years B.C..

The Dutch were some of the early pioneers and as far back as the 13th century maintained communication by skating from village to village along frozen rivers and canals. Skating spread across the channel to England and soon the first clubs and artificial rinks had begun springing up across the country. Before long the sport had spread right across Europe and had reached North America . Several kings of England, Marie Antoinette, Napoleon I, the great German poet Goethe and Napoleon III all loved to take to the ice.

The Olympic Winter Games present three disciplines of skating: Figure Skating, including singles for Men and Ladies, pairs (a man and a lady) and ice dancing, Speed Skating, and Short Track Speed Skating for Men and Ladies.

LUGE

Luge

Olympic sport since 1964

ABOUT

Luge is the French word for sled, and historical findings point to the existence of sleds, as early as AD 800 with the Vikings in the Slagen countryside near the Oslo Fjord. The Vikings are believed to have had sleds with two runners, which resemble the modern-day version. The first international sled race occurred in 1883 in Davos, Switzerland, with 21 competitors from Australia, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. This race took place over 4km and was won by Georg Robertson, a student from Australia, and Peter Minsch, a mailman from Klosters. Both finished the race in just over nine minutes.

The first World Championships occurred on an artificial track in Oslo in 1955. Two years later, the International Luge Federation (FIL) was founded in Davos and remains the governing body of luge today. Luge made its Olympic debut at the 1964 Games.

ICE HOCKEY

Olympic sport since 1920

ABOUT

The word “hockey” comes from the old French word "hocquet", meaning "stick". The origins of ice hockey are unclear, but it is widely accepted that the British are responsible for bringing hockey to North America. Soldiers stationed in Nova Scotia, Canada, played the earliest games. In 1879, a group of college students at McGill University in Montreal organised competitions and developed the first known set of hockey rules. The sport migrated south to the United States during the 1890s. The first known hockey games took place between Johns Hopkins and Yale Universities in 1895. The first Olympic Games to include ice hockey for men were the Antwerp Games in 1920. However, the first Olympic Winter Games took place in 1924 in Chamonix.

CURLING

Olympic sport since 1924

ABOUT

Curling originated in the 16th century in Scotland, where games were played during winter on frozen ponds, lochs and marshes. The earliest-known curling stones came from the Scottish regions of Stirling and Perth and date back to 1511. The earliest reports of curling came from Paisley Abbey, Scotland, in 1541. In the early days of the sport, stones were taken from river bottoms. In the 1600s, stones with handles were introduced, allowing a delivery style similar to what is used today.

The key developments in the sport in the 20th century have been the standardisation of the stone and the use of indoor, refrigerated ice facilities.

Curling for men was included in the programme in 1924.

BOBSLEIGH > SKELETON

ABOUT

Considered the world's first sliding sport, skeleton originated in the Swiss town of St. Moritz in the late 1800s. The first competition was held in 1884. Riders raced down the road from St. Moritz to Celerina, where the winner received a bottle of champagne. It wasn't until 1887 that riders began competing in the prone position used today. The sport took its name in 1892, when a new sled made mostly of metal was introduced. People thought it looked like a skeleton.

The sport's governing body, the Federation Internationale de Bobsleigh et Tobagganing (FIBT), was founded in 1923. Skeleton has twice been on the Olympic programme, both times at its "ancestral" home of St. Moritz, in 1928 and 1948. However, skeleton for both men and women has also been added to the 2002 Olympic programme.

COMPETITION

Olympic skeleton events consists of four runs timed electronically to 0.01 seconds. The four runs are contested over two days and the final standings determined by the aggregate time of the four runs. If athletes complete the competition in a tie, they receive the same award.

LIST OF EVENTS *

• - individual Men
  

• - individual Women
  

*On the Programme of the XX Olympic Winter Games, Torino 2006

BOBSLEIGH > BOBSLEIGH

ABOUT

Although the sled has been around for centuries as a mode of transportation, the sport of bobsleigh didn't begin until the late 19th century when the Swiss attached a steering mechanism to a toboggan.
In 1897, the world's first bobsleigh club was founded in St. Moritz, Switzerland, spurring the growth of the sport in winter resorts throughout Europe. By 1914, bobsled races were taking place on a wide variety of natural ice courses.
The first racing sleds were made of wood but were soon replaced by steel sleds that came to be known as bobsleighs, so named because of the way crews bobbed back and forth to increase their speed at the start.
In 1923, the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT) was founded and the following year a four-man race took place at the first ever Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix, France. A two-man event was added at the 1932 Olympics in Lake Placid, U.S.A., a format that has remained to the present.

By the 1950s, the sport as we know it today had begun to take shape. As the critical importance of the start was recognized, strong, fast athletes in other sports were drawn to bobsledding. Track and field competitors, rugy players, gymnasts and others who had strength and could deliver a vigorous push at the start were much sought after.
In 1952, a critical rule change limiting the total weight of crew and sled ended the era of the super heavyweight bobsledder and sealed the future of the sport as an athletic contest of the highest caliber.
More athletic crews went hand-in-hand with advances in sleds and tracks. Today, the world's top teams train year-round and compete mostly on artificial ice tracks in sleek high-tech sleds made of fiberglass and steel. Two-man women’s bobsleigh became part of competition program at Salt Lake City in 2002.

COMPETITION

Bobsleigh consists of three events in the Olympic programme. Men and women compete in two-man/two-woman. Men also compete in four-man.

There are slight differences between the men's and women's competitions.

Olympic bobsleigh competition lasts over two days, with two runs staged on each day. The competition consists of four runs timed to 0.01 seconds. The final standings are determined by the total time over the four runs; the winner is the sled with the lowest aggregate time. If two teams complete the competition in a tie, they are awarded the same place.

LIST OF EVENTS *

• - four-man Men
  

• - two-man Men
  - two-man Women
  

* On the Programme of the XX Olympic Winter Games, Torino 2006

BOBSLEIGH

Olympic sport since 1924

ABOUT

Although the sled has been around for centuries as a mode of transportation, the sport of bobsleigh didn't begin until the late 19th century when the Swiss attached a steering mechanism to a toboggan.
In 1897, the world's first bobsleigh club was founded in St. Moritz, Switzerland, spurring the growth of the sport in winter resorts throughout Europe. By 1914, bobsled races were taking place on a wide variety of natural ice courses.
The first racing sleds were made of wood but were soon replaced by steel sleds that came to be known as bobsleighs, so named because of the way crews bobbed back and forth to increase their speed at the start.
In 1923, the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT) was founded and the following year a four-man race took place at the first ever Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix, France. A two-man event was added at the 1932 Olympics in Lake Placid, U.S.A., a format that has remained to the present.

By the 1950s, the sport as we know it today had begun to take shape. As the critical importance of the start was recognized, strong, fast athletes in other sports were drawn to bobsledding. Track and field competitors, rugy players, gymnasts and others who had strength and could deliver a vigorous push at the start were much sought after.
In 1952, a critical rule change limiting the total weight of crew and sled ended the era of the super heavyweight bobsledder and sealed the future of the sport as an athletic contest of the highest caliber.
More athletic crews went hand-in-hand with advances in sleds and tracks. Today, the world's top teams train year-round and compete mostly on artificial ice tracks in sleek high-tech sleds made of fiberglass and steel. Two-man women’s bobsleigh became part of competition program at Salt Lake City in 2002.

BIATHLON

Olympic sport since 1960

ABOUT

Biathlon was originally a tactic of survival rather than a sport. Northern Europeans skied to hunt for food and, later, skied with weapons to defend their countries. The word "biathlon" stems from the Greek word for two contests. Today it is interpreted as a joining of two sports: cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.

In 1960, Biathlon joined the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM). But in 1993, an agreement was made to retain the Union as an umbrella body under which the UIPM and the IBU could act autonomously. It took effect in 1998, but the two sports maintain relations in various projects.

WRESTLING GRECO-ROMAN

Wrestling Greco-Roman

ABOUT

When the modern Olympic Games resumed in Athens in 1896, organisers considered wrestling so historically significant that it became a focus of the Games. They remembered tales of wrestling competition in 708 BC, of oiled bodies fighting on sand in the ancient Games. Greco-Roman wrestling was deemed a pure reincarnation of ancient Greek and Roman wrestling. Eight years later, Olympic officials added a second category with far less history and far less grandeur, but great popularity. Commonly known as "catch as catch can", freestyle wrestling had become the staple of 19th-century fairs and festivals in Great Britain and the United States, a form of professional entertainment. Like Greco-Roman wrestling, it became a staple of the Games themselves. In Greco-Roman competition, now dominated by Russia, wrestlers use only their arms and upper bodies to attack. In freestyle, wrestlers also use their legs and may hold opponents above or below the waist. The Olympic Greco-Roman medallists in 1996 represented 16 different countries, with this figure growing to 15 in Sydney and 16 in Athens.

COMPETITION

At the Olympic Games in Athens 2004 there were seven events (weight classes) in men's Greco-Roman. A total of 344 athletes competed in the three disciplines of this sport, freestyle, Greco-Roman and women’s wrestling.

LIST OF EVENTS *

• - - 55kg Men
  - 55 - 60kg Men
  - 60 - 66kg Men
  

• - 66 - 74kg Men
  - 74 - 84kg Men
  - 84 - 96kg Men
  - 96 - 120kg Men
  

* On the programme of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, Beijing 2008

WRESTLING FREESTYLE

ABOUT

When the modern Olympic Games resumed in Athens in 1896, organisers considered wrestling so historically significant that it became a focus of the Games. They remembered tales of wrestling competition in 708 BC, of oiled bodies fighting on sand in the ancient Games. Greco-Roman wrestling was deemed a pure reincarnation of ancient Greek and Roman wrestling. Eight years later, Olympic officials added a second category with far less history and far less grandeur, but great popularity. Commonly known as "catch as catch can", freestyle wrestling had become the staple of 19th-century fairs and festivals in Great Britain and the United States, a form of professional entertainment. Like Greco-Roman wrestling, it became a staple of the Games themselves. In Greco-Roman competition, now dominated by Russia, wrestlers use only their arms and upper bodies to attack. In freestyle, wrestlers also use their legs and may hold opponents above or below the waist. The Olympic freestyle medallists in 1996 represented 17 different countries, 15 in Sydney and 17 in Athens..

COMPETITION

At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, there were seven events in men’s freestyle. For the first time ever, women participated in four. A total of 344 athletes competed in the three disciplines of this sport, freestyle, Greco-Roman and women’s wrestling.

LIST OF EVENTS *

• - - 55kg Men
  - 55 - 60kg Men
  - 60 - 66kg Men
  - 66 - 74kg Men
  - 74 - 84kg Men
  

• - 84 - 96kg Men
  - 96 - 120kg Men
  - - 48kg Women
  - 48 - 55kg Women
  - 55 - 63kg Women
  - 63 - 72kg Women
  

* On the programme of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, Beijing 2008

WRESTLING

Olympic sport since 1896

ABOUT

If the Olympic Games are a history of mankind, wrestling is the prologue. When the ancient Games of the Olympiad were born, wrestling already was an ancient game. Widely recognised as the world's oldest competitive sport, wrestling appeared in a series of Egyptian wall paintings as many as 5000 years ago. When the Games began in 776 BC, more than two millenniums later, it included wrestling, and, in the years that followed, wrestling featured as the main event.

The sport would return in a similar role when the Olympic Games returned after a 1500-year absence in 1896. Organisers, seeking direct links to ancient times, found a natural in the sport that had enjoyed popularity across much of the ancient world, from Greece, Assyria and Babylon to India, China and Japan. They resurrected Greco-Roman wrestling, a style they believed to be an exact carryover from the Greek and Roman wrestlers of old.

In Greco-Roman wrestling, the wrestlers used only their arms and upper bodies to attack. They could hold only those same parts of their opponents. It worked nicely from a historical perspective, but another breezier style was sweeping across Great Britain and the United States by then. Known as "catch as catch can", it had become standard fare - and popular professional entertainment - at fairs and festivals in both countries.

In 1904, the Olympic Games added the second wrestling event and called it "freestyle". Now, wrestlers could use their legs for pushing, lifting and tripping, and they could hold opponents above or below the waist.

WEIGHTLIFTING

Olympic sport since 1896

ABOUT

An ancient sport as old as mankind, embodying the most direct manifestation of human strength, weightlifting has not only flourished, but also developed into a modern sporting discipline for the 21st century. The apparent simplicity of lifting the barbell from the ground and over the head in one or two movements is deceiving. Weightlifting requires a combination of power, speed, technique, concentration and timing. Super heavyweight lifters normally claim the title of World’s Strongest Man or Woman. However, kilo per kilo, the lightest weightlifter is often the strongest. Men’s weightlifting was on the programme of the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. Women participated for the first time at the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000.

VOLLEYBALL

Olympic sport since 1964

Volleyball, like basketball, is a sport whose origin is known almost to the day. Oddly enough, both sports were invented at the same college and within a few years of one another. Volleyball was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan, a student at Springfield College and a director of the YMCA at Holyoke, Massachusetts. The game was originally called "Mintonette".

Volleyball quickly spread around the world and became more popular in other countries than in the United States. The Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) was formed in 1946. The sport was introduced to the Olympics in 1964 by the Japanese, although it was never contested as a demonstration sport at the Olympics. No country has been truly dominant in volleyball, although the Soviet Union has won the most medals. Originally the Japanese had the world's best women players while the United States had the best men's team in the world throughout the 1980s.

Volleyball has now reached great heights of popularity in the United States and Brazil, largely thanks to the discipline of beach volleyball.

The beach volleyball phenomenon, although hugely visible, is still just in its infancy. From the first FIVB World Tour event just over ten years ago, to the overwhelming spectator and television success of 'Beach' at the Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, beach volleyball has opened up Volleyball to a completely new market.

TRIATHLON

Olympic sport since 2000

ABOUT

The first triathlon was held on Fiesta Island, California, USA in 1974 as the San Diego University Track Club ventured into new forms of instilling interest in their training programme while inventing “cross-over training” at the same time.

As the ultimate endurance test, triathlon requires athletes to excel at the three “classic sports” of swimming, cycling and running.

The sport requires intense training and discipline at the elite level; many people participate in triathlons because it fits in with a healthy lifestyle. They’re able to train while still pursuing careers and families.

Triathlon made its Olympic debut at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney after it was awarded full medal status six years earlier at the IOC congress in Paris. The international popularity of triathlon really started to grow after its inclusion on the Olympic programme. By 2003, ITU’s World Cup circuit expanded to 18 races in 14 different countries.

TENNIS

Olympic sport since 1896

ABOUT

When Irishman John Boland travelled to Athens for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, he had no idea he would return home with the gold medal in tennis. But then, he had no idea he would compete either - he went as a spectator.

Times have changed dramatically for Olympic tennis since then. Today's Olympic tennis players include some of the highest-profile athletes in the world. Accustomed to five-star hotels and high-stakes prize money, at the Olympic Games they will bunk in the Olympic Village and compete for nothing but a gold medal.

Tennis was dropped from the Olympic programme after 1924 amid turmoil over such issues as where to draw the line between amateurism and professionalism, and it didn't return as a medal sport until 1988. Today, Olympic competition includes men's and women's singles and men's and women's doubles.

TAEKWONDO

Olympic sport since 2000

ABOUT

Various Korean forms of martial arts have existed but in the early 20th century, taekwondo became the dominant form. In 1955 a group of Korean martial arts leaders chose taekwondo as the definitive Korean martial art in an attempt to promote its development internationally.

In 1973, the Korean government recognised the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) as the legitimate governing body of the sport, and the first World Championships were held in that year.

TABLE TENNIS

Olympic sport since 1988

ABOUT

Gossima. Whiff-Whaff. Flim-Flam. Ping-Pong.

Whatever name it assumes, table tennis has come a long way since its introduction as a genteel, after-dinner alternative to lawn tennis in 1890s England. Today, players compete for big money, wield high-tech rackets and volley the ball at speeds up to 160 kilometres per hour. Table tennis has become the world's largest participation sport, with 40 million competitive players worldwide and countless millions playing recreationally.

The game, which debuted in the Olympic Games in 1988 at Seoul, began with cigar-box lids for rackets and a carved champagne cork for a ball. Today, players use specially developed rubber-coated wooden and carbon-fibre rackets and a lightweight, hollow celluloid ball. Various rubber compounds and glues are applied on the rackets to impart greater spin or speed.

Indeed, some glues are banned from Olympic competition - they make the ball travel up to 30km/h faster.

SHOOTING

Olympic sport since 1896

ABOUT

Olympic history abounds with tales of athletes who overcame crippling adversity to win gold medals, but Karoly Takacs' comeback may be the best. Takacs was part of Hungary's world-champion pistol-shooting team in 1938 when an army grenade exploded in his right hand. Ten years later, he won the first two golds in rapid-fire pistol - after teaching himself to shoot left-handed.

In a sport where the bullseye looks about the size of the full stop at the end of this sentence, a sport where shooters compete amid a cacophony of noise and still concentrate on firing between heartbeats, Takacs' achievement tests the imagination.

From just three shooting events at the 1896 Olympic Games to 15 today, the sport has grown steadily. In part this leap can be ascribed to advances in the technology of firearms and equipment, which have led to constant changes in the shooting competition. But it can also be ascribed to the passion shooters have for their sport.

SAILING

Olympic sport since 1900

ABOUT

A means of transport since antiquity, the competitive sport of sailing is a unique combination of athleticism, skill and technology used to harness the power of the wind and waves.

Sailing was first contested as an Olympic sport in Paris in 1900, although the race format and the classes of competing boats have changed significantly since then reflecting the global spread of the sport as sailing has become more accessible around the world. Olympic racing is now conducted with boats categorised into one-design classes based on similar weights and measurements.

ROWING

Olympic sport since 1896

ABOUT

Tactically, it sounds as ludicrous as sprinting the first five kilometres of a marathon. To win a 2000-metre rowing race, the crew must sprint for the first 500 metres.

Such are the demands in the sport of the Athlete of the Century and the Oarsome Foursome.

Rowing is an endurance test that finishes at a speed of up to 10 metres a second. Crews cover the middle 1000 metres at about 40 strokes per minute, but, over the first and last 500 metres, shift up a gear to as many as 47.

The modern master is Steve Redgrave of Great Britain, widely hailed as the greatest rower ever. A six-time World Champion, he won gold medals at the last five Olympic Games and has been loosely crowned Athlete of the Century.

MODERN PENTATHLON

Olympic sport since 1912

ABOUT

The sport of Modern Pentathlon has been called the “true Olympic sport” and the “sport that most accurately conveys the ideals of Olympism.” It has a long and distinguished history; with its unique Olympic foundation it’s understandable that there are many facets that define and comprise this sport. From its leadership role in the Olympic movement, to the statutes and rules that guide its operation, to the organization that keeps it moving progressively forward, Modern Pentathlon, represented in all corners of the world, is steeped in culture and cultivated in the Olympic spirit.

Modern Pentathlon is an educational sport. This was the primary wish of its creator, Pierre de Coubertin. A complete sport, on the physical side - Swimming & Running are the basic disciplines; on the mental side – Shooting requires stress control and a precise technique; on the intellectual side – Fencing requires adaptability and intelligence; Riding an unknown horse requires a mix of adaptability, self-control and courage.

During the past years the number of countries and continents achieving medals at World Championships has dramatically increased. Modern Pentathlon is already included in Regional Games such as Asian Games, Pan American Games, Central American and Caribbean Games. As membership continues to grow, plans are to be included also in Balkan Games, Mediterranean Games, etc.

HOCKEY

Olympic sport since 1908

Hockey is the oldest known ball and stick game. Records exist of it having been played in Persia in 2000 BC. The name hockey probably derives from the French hocquet, or shepherd’s crook, and refers to the crooked stick which is used to hit a small ball. The game became more organised late in the 19th century and became an Olympic sport in 1908.

Until the 1970s, the game at international level was mainly played on natural grass, but has become an even more exciting and Skilful India dominated the sport for three decades, winning all six Olympic gold medals and 30 consecutive games from 1928 to 1956. The first Balbir Singh, who was followed by four more players of the same name who also played for victorious Indian teams, scored five goals in a 6-1 gold-medal victory over the Netherlands in Helsinki in 1952.

TRAMPOLINE

ABOUT

A perfect fusion of athletics and aesthetics, gymnastics ranks among the defining sports of the Olympic Games.

As of 1 January 1999, trampoline became a discipline of gymnastics at the Olympic Games.

COMPETITION

Trampoline gymnastics debuted at the Sydney 2000 Games featuring both men's and women's individual events. The Russian Federation took home two gold medals at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games as Alexander Moskalenko and Irina Karavaeva were crowned with gold medals

Trampoline competitions are open to both men and women.

RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS

ABOUT

A perfect fusion of athletics and aesthetics, gymnastics ranks among the defining sports of the Olympic Games.

When rhythmic gymnastics first caught the attention of the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) in the middle of the 20th century, its devotees were calling it "modern gymnastics". Yet its hazy history can clearly be traced to at least the last century.

COMPETITION

Rhythmic gymnastics (performed with an apparatus) is strictly a women's competition. The gymnasts, accompanied by music, perform on a 13-metre-square floor area with rope, hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon. In the individual event they perform different routines with four of the five apparatus. In the team competition, teams of five perform together once using clubs and once with two using hoops and three using ribbons.

ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS

ABOUT

A perfect fusion of athletics and aesthetics, gymnastics ranks among the defining sports of the Olympic Games. Mixing strength and agility with style and grace, the high-flying acrobats have provided many of the most breathtaking Olympic spectacles of the past quarter-century.

Nadia Comeneci's perfect 10 score at the 1976 Montreal Games, the first ever awarded, remains the high-water mark for most gymnastics fans. The 14-year-old Romanian achieved the seemingly impossible seven times in Montreal, a feat so unexpected that the scoring technology was set up for only three digits. Her 10.00s were displayed as 1.00.

Gymnastics has a long, proud history. The sport can be traced back to ancient Greece, where such skills featured in the ancient Olympic Games. Ancient Rome, Persia, India and China practised similar disciplines, mostly aimed at preparing young men for battle. The word itself derives from the Greek word gymnos, meaning naked - dress requirements for athletes in those days were minimal, to say the least.

COMPETITION

In artistic events (performed on an apparatus), men compete in floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bars. Female gymnasts compete on the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor. The competition includes all-round events and team events, also scored over each apparatus.

GYMNASTICS

Olympic sport since 1896

ABOUT

The Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) was formed on 23 July 1881 when representatives of the gymnastics associations of Belgium, France and the Netherlands met in Liège. As a governing body it is held in high esteem by both its member federations and gymnastics clubs throughout five continents. In 1897, seventeen national associations joined together to form the basis of the European Gymnastics Federation. However, when the USA was admitted in 1921, the Committee changed its name to the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique or FIG, as it is known today.

FIG comprises three Olympic disciplines: artistic, rhythmic and trampoline.

Each discipline is controlled by a Technical Committee made up of a Technical President and six members.The Technical Committees are responsible for the coordination and control of their specific discipline in terms of the technical requirements for competition as they relate to each specific discipline.

FOOTBALL

Olympic sport since 1900

ABOUT

While the modern game of football started with the foundation of the Football Association of England in 1863, its roots extend to opposite ends of the earth. The ancient Chinese, Greeks and Romans played a similar game, long before English kings in the 1300s and 1400s were trying to outlaw the violent sport.

While professionals are allowed in the men’s tournament, rules restrict teams to players under 23 years old with the exception of three over-age players. ’No age restrictions apply for the women’s tournament. For the Beijing 2008 Games the number of women’s teams has been increased to 12. The men’s tournament is set at 16 teams.

FENCING

Olympic sport since 1896

ABOUT

Take the romantic, swashbuckling epics of Errol Flynn, add some rules, protective clothing and an electronic scoring system, and you have fencing at the Olympic Games. Two rivals stand opposite each other and feint, lunge, parry and riposte until one scores the required number of hits to win.

Evolved from the ancient form of combat, fencing is one of only four sports that has been featured at every modern Olympic Games. It was the first to include recognised professionals in a medals competition after modern Olympic Games founder Pierre de Coubertin arranged special events for professional fencing "masters" in the original 1896 and 1900 competitions.

The clothing has become so protective, though, that officials modified masks a few years ago to return a "human face" to the event. Fine, but for intense reality, the 1924 team foil competition still wins: After the Olympic Games, an Italian and a Hungarian settled a scoring controversy with a real duel.

EQUESTRIAN / JUMPING

ABOUT

This is the only Olympic sport where man and animal are established team-mates, and one of the few where men and women compete on equal terms.

Equestrian is the ultimate in team sports, a horse and rider working together for years to hone feats of grace, daring, agility and speed.

Chariot races and horse riding appeared in Greece's ancient Games, but most of the equestrian programme as we know it began in the Olympic Games of 1912. It includes three disciplines - dressage, jumping and the three-day event - each with individual and team competition.

COMPETITION

Both exciting and easy to follow, show jumping is a very popular discipline. Originating from Ireland, with its passion for fox hunting, jumping requires horse and rider to complete a course of about 15 obstacles, including triple bars, parallel rails, water jumps and simulated stone walls. Penalties are incurred if jumps are taken in the wrong order, if a horse refuses a jump or knocks down a rail, and if time limits are exceeded.

EQUESTRIAN / EVENTING

ABOUT

This is the only Olympic sport where man and animal are established team-mates, and one of the few where men and women compete on equal terms.

Equestrian is the ultimate in team sport, a horse and rider working together for years to hone feats of grace, daring, agility and speed.

Chariot races and horseback riding appeared in Greece's ancient Games, but most of the equestrian events as we know them began in the Olympic Games of 1912. Equestrian includes three disciplines - dressage, jumping and three-day event - each with individual and team competitions.

COMPETITION

There are three equestrian disciplines contested at the Olympics, with an individual and team event in each, making six events on the Olympic programme. The three disciplines are jumping (or show jumping, or Prix de Nations as a team event), dressage, and Eventing. Jumping consists of negotiating a series of obstacles with the goal being not to disturb the fences. Dressage is a sort of ballet on horseback in which the rider guides the horse to perform certain intricate manoeuvres of stepping. The scoring is done by judges who evaluate how well the horse executes the moves. Eventing combines the above two disciplines, and adds a third competition of riding a cross-country course on horseback. Scoring is by a series of tables evaluating each day's performance.

EQUESTRIAN / DRESSAGE

ABOUT

Equestrian is the only Olympic sport where man and animal are established team-mates, and one of the few where men and women compete on equal terms.

It is the ultimate in team sports, a horse and rider working together for years to hone feats of grace, daring, agility and speed.

Chariot races and horse riding appeared in Greece's ancient Games, but most of the equestrian programme as we know it began in the Olympic Games of 1912. It includes three disciplines - dressage, jumping and three-day event - each with individual and team competition.

COMPETITION

Often described as horses performing ballet, dressage has changed little since the Renaissance. The term stems from a French word for training, and European cavalrymen developed the idea for use on the battlefield and the parade ground. The horse performs set movements, or tests, in response to its rider's subtle aids and signals. The event is conducted over three rounds. In the first two, horse and rider perform a set routine of dressage movements, including passages, pirouettes and piaffes in a walk, trot and canter. The third round is freestyle, with routines individually choreographed and performed to music.

The scoring is done by judges who evaluate how well the horse executes the moves. During the Olympics four days are devoted to dressage.

EQUESTRIAN

Olympic sport since 1900

ABOUT

Equestrian events were included in the Olympic Games for the first time in 1900 and then in 1912, in a format very similar to that which will be used at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

In the past, the three-day event (Eventing) was restricted to military officers, while the jumping and dressage competitions were open to civilians, but only a handful of civilian riders competed up to 1948. Up to that time, the growth of modern sport had been rapid, but relatively few competitors were involved in international competitions. They all knew each other and the judges and were accepting of local variations to the fairly simple rules which existed. With the inclusion of the sport in the Olympic Games, it became obvious that some internationally recognised rules for the three Olympic disciplines were essential. In May 1921, delegates from 10 national equestrian organisations met in Lausanne to discuss the formation of an international federation.

Equestrian consists of three disciplines: Jumping, Dressage and Eventing (Three-Day Event).

MOUNTAIN BIKE

ABOUT

First came the road race. It became the rage of the late 1800s, after the invention of the bicycle and before the invention of the car. Then came track racing. It was part of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, even though it looks space-age in its truly modern form. Then came mountain biking.

Mountain biking debuted in the Games in 1996 at Atlanta. The sport was about 40 years old then, if you date it back to the university student who first stripped down his bicycle, converted it and headed for the hills in 1953. The sport was just 20 years old, though, if you date it back to the first organised competition outside San Francisco.

The members of the Velo Club Mount Tamalpais generally receive the credit for establishing mountain biking as a sport. They invented the Repack Downhill race, held regularly between 1976 and 1979 just across the famed Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. The races attracted riders from near and far, and the media soon followed.

It was a cool sport, a fringe sport. By 1990, it had turned into a truly professional sport, complete with World Championships. Now, it came back at the Atlanta 1996 Games.

COMPETITION

Cross-country sees the riders riding over what is usually a very hilly, sometimes mountainous course, usually on natural terrain. They may need to manoeuvre over trees, branches, rocks and streams.

Men race between 40 and 50 kilometres, and women cover 30 to 40km. The exact distances are decided the night before the race, when officials ponder the weather conditions and aim for an optimum finishing time of two hours and 15 minutes for the top man, two hours for the top woman. The course is set so men complete six to seven laps and women race five to six.

CYCLING TRACK

ABOUT

Road racing and mountain biking relate easily to the average rider's view of cycling. Track cycling does not.

In track cycling, the riders go nowhere, just around and around an oval track banked at 42 degrees. The track's name - the velodrome - sounds space-age, and the helmets, suits and bikes bearing no resemblance to a common two-wheeler more closely resemble something out of Star Wars.

Those idiosyncrasies grew out of years of refinement, though. All were aimed at helping man push bicycles faster and faster.

The aerodynamic "funny bikes" of today offer greater speed than ever, despite their poorer manoeuvrability that leaves them ill-suited to pack racing.

The 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, in particular, fielded a wave of futuristic machines, including the debut of the spokeless, carbon-fibre disc wheel.

Another revolution occurred in the 1992 Barcelona Games, where Great Britain's Chris Boardman won his country's first cycling gold medal since 1920. Boardman broke world records and lapped the world champion in the final with a bike fully utilising carbon-fibre technology and aerodynamic cross-sections, weighing less than nine kilograms.

Track cycling evolved again during the Sydney 2000 Games, with a new range of races. Women competed in a 500-metre time trial, and men added the keirin, Madison and Olympic sprint races.

COMPETITION

The full programme includes individual and team events, sprint and endurance races, pursuits, time trials and first-over-the-line finishes. The time trial, sprint, individual pursuit and points race include events for men and women. The 4000m team pursuit, Madison, keirin and Olympic sprint involve only men.

The Madison is a mass-start event comprising teams of two riders per team. It is similar to a team points race, as points are awarded to the top finishers at the intermediate sprints and for the finishing sprint. Only one of the two team riders is on the track at any one time, riding for a number of laps, and then exchanging with his partner, who is propelled onto the track by a hand sling from the cyclist leaving the track.

The keirin is one of the most exciting events in cycling because of the speeds. The event is a 2000 metre paced event in which the riders ride behind a motorised derny, which increases the potential speeds. The derny paces the riders for 1400 metres and then pulls off the track, at which time the cyclists begin a furious sprint to the finish. Keirin racing has traditionally been practised in Japan, where it has been a professional sport for over 20 years, and in which pari-mutuel betting on the riders is permitted.

The Olympic sprint is a team sprint event, with each team consisting of three riders. Two teams compete against each other, starting on opposite sides of the track, with the goal being to catch the other team, or finish three laps of the track first. Each of the three riders leads their team for a single lap. The time for the final rider to finish the third lap is the time for the team.

CYCLING ROAD

ABOUT

Scottish blacksmith Kirkpatrick MacMillan gave bicycle racing its first big boost back in 1839 when he devised a pedal-and-crank mechanism to power the two-wheeled machines. Until then, bicycles were pushed along by the feet. It rather limited their racing potential.

In the 1880s, cycling took another leap forward with the development of the chain-and-gearing system. With that, bikes evolved from the awkward penny-farthing style to the sleeker shape so familiar today. Since then, the sport's evolution has been a steady climb as athletes and engineers experiment with anything that might shave a few seconds off their times.

The sport's boom in the late 19th century made it a natural for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. That inaugural Olympic road race was held on the marathon course, with riders completing two laps covering a total of 87 kilometres. Almost a century passed before women got their chance to race in 1984, and, 12 years later, at the 1996 Atlanta Games, time trials were introduced.

COMPETITION

The men's and women's road races and time trials now comprise the four events that make up the Olympic road-racing programme.

The road races begin with mass starts. The men race over 239km and the women over 120. The time trials are raced against the clock, with riders starting at 90-second intervals. In those, the men race over 46.8km, the women over 31.2.

CYCLING BMX

ABOUT

Bicycle moto cross (BMX) started in the late 1960s in California, around the time that motocross became a popular sport in the USA. The motorised version of the sport was the inspiration for the human-powered competition. Children and teenagers with the desire but not the means to participate in motocross sated their appetite by racing bicycles on self-built tracks. These young adventurers completed the imitation by dressing themselves up in motocross gear.

BMX racing offered exciting action at a low cost, close to home. It is easy to see why the sport was an instant hit. In California the sport was more popular than anywhere else. During the early 1970s a sanctioning body for BMX was founded in the USA. This is considered as the official start of BMX racing. As that decade progressed, the sport was introduced on other continents too, among them Europe in 1978.

In April 1981, the International BMX Federation was founded, and the first world championships were held in 1982. BMX rapidly developed as a unique sporting entity, and after several years clearly had more in common with cycling than motorcycling codes. Thus, since January 1993 BMX has been fully integrated into the International Cycling Union (UCI).

On 29 June 2003, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to include BMX in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

COMPETITION

BMX races are held on circuits of around 350 metres, including jumps, banked corners and other obstacles. Eight riders compete in each heat (qualifying rounds, quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals), with the top four qualifying for the next round.

CYCLING

Olympic sport since 1896

ABOUT

Bicycles were first developed in 1817and have long since been used as a form of transport. Originally, the front wheel was much larger than the rear wheel, and the rider was elevated a great deal, making them difficult to control and very dangerous. In 1885, J.K. Starley of England devised the more modern bike with a chain and gearing to allow the wheels to be of equal size. Although bicycle races had been held on the old "penny farthings", the new bikes stimulated the growth of bicycle racing as a sport.

Cycling at the Olympics features four exciting disciplines: road, track, mountain biking and bmx.