Winter Sports
Sports whose surface is snow or ice — alpine and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, curling, figure skating, luge, biathlon and ice hockey.
37 sports in winter sports.
Aerial Skiing
Ski off a huge 4 m kicker and rotate through triple flips with quad twists — judged on air, form and landing.
Alpine Skiing
Winter racing sport where skiers descend a snow-covered mountain course through gates, in five disciplines from slow-turn slalom to 130 km/h downhill.
Biathlon
Winter sport combining cross-country skiing with rifle marksmanship — athletes ski loops and stop at a shooting range to hit small targets, with time penalties for misses.
Big Air Skiing
One huge jump per run — skiers throw the biggest trick of their life for the judges. Two- and three-run finals.
Bobsleigh
Winter sliding sport in which teams of 2 or 4 push a streamlined sled down a twisting refrigerated ice track, reaching speeds of 150+ km/h.
Broomball
Six-a-side ice sport in regular shoes — sweep a small ball into a hockey goal with a broom.
Cross-Country Skiing
Endurance winter sport in which skiers propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using long, narrow skis and poles — Olympic events include sprint, distance, relay, and mass-start.
Curling
A Scottish winter sport in which teams of four slide granite stones down a sheet of ice, sweeping ahead of the stone to control its path.
Figure Skating
Winter sport where skaters perform jumps, spins, step sequences and lifts on ice, judged on technical difficulty and artistic execution across four disciplines.
Freestyle Skiing
Winter Olympic acrobatic snow sport with 6 disciplines — moguls, aerials, ski cross, halfpipe, slopestyle, big air — combining skiing with tricks, jumps, and stylistic maneuvers judged for difficulty + execution + creativity.
Halfpipe Skiing
Freestyle skiing down a snow halfpipe — spins, grabs and inverts judged on amplitude, execution and difficulty.
Ice Climbing
Climb frozen waterfalls, alpine ice and mixed rock-and-ice terrain with crampons and specialised axes.
Ice Cross Downhill
Four skaters head-to-head down a steep floodlit ice track full of jumps, rollers and hairpins.
Ice Sailing
Wind-powered racing on frozen lakes in a small skate-mounted sailboat — speeds beyond 100 km/h.
Ice Yachting (DN Class)
The world's most-raced ice-yachting one-design — a 3.7 m single-hander that hits 100+ km/h on smooth ice.
Luge
Winter Olympic sport where athletes lie feet-first on a small sled + race down an icy track at 130-150 km/h — timed to thousandths of a second; individual singles, doubles, team relay, sprint events.
Mogul Skiing
Freestyle skiing down a steep bumped course with two aerial jumps — judged on turns, air and speed.
Nordic Combined
Winter Olympic two-event contest — one large-hill ski jump followed by a 10 km cross-country pursuit race.
Para Ice Hockey
Ice hockey played on sledges with two short sticks — for athletes with lower-body impairment. A Paralympic sport since 1994.
Ringette
Canadian ice team sport — pass a rubber ring with a straight stick into the opposing net.
Rink Bandy
Compact bandy played on an ice hockey rink — six-a-side with a small ball and short sticks.
Short Track Speed Skating
Pack-style speed skating on a 111 m indoor oval — bodychecks are illegal, but crashes are frequent.
Skeleton
Winter Olympic sport where athletes race head-first, prone (belly-down) on a small sled down icy tracks at 125-140 km/h — the only sliding sport where athletes go head-first; single-runs, 4-run cumulative time format.
Ski Cross
Four skiers head-to-head down a course of jumps, banks and rollers — top two per heat progress.
Ski Jumping
Winter sport in which athletes ski down a steep ramp (inrun), leap into the air, and glide as far as possible before landing on a slope — judged on distance and style.
Ski Mountaineering
Alpine race sport of climbing on skis with skins, then ripping the descent — Olympic debut Milano-Cortina 2026.
Skijoring
Cross-country skiing while being pulled by dogs, a horse or a snowmobile — race, jumping or slalom formats.
Slopestyle Skiing
Freestyle skiing down a terrain park of rails, jibs and jumps — style, difficulty and variety are the scorecard.
Snowboard Cross
Head-to-head snowboarding down a course of jumps, banks and rollers — top two per heat advance.
Snowboarding
Winter sport where riders descend snow slopes on a single board with feet in fixed bindings — competed in freestyle (halfpipe, slopestyle, big air) and racing (parallel, snowboard cross) disciplines.
Snowkiting
Snowboard or ski across snow while harnessed to a controllable inflatable or foil kite.
Snowmobiling
Motorized winter sport — riders race snowmobiles at 100+ km/h on snow tracks with jumps, moguls, banked turns. Disciplines include snocross (motocross-style), cross-country, hillclimb, freestyle, drag racing, ice racing. X Games staple since 1998; huge in Scandinavia, Russia, Canada, USA.
Snowshoeing
Racing and touring across snow on lightweight snowshoes — an ancient practical means, now a competitive sport.
Speed Skating
Ice-skating race sport on a 400 m double-lane oval; distances from 500 m sprint to 10,000 m endurance with skaters swapping lanes each lap.
Speed Skiing
The fastest non-motorised winter sport — a straight-line ski descent timed to the tenth of a km/h.
Wheelchair Curling
Paralympic curling for wheelchair athletes — no sweeping, stones delivered from the wheelchair using a stick.
Winter Triathlon
Cold-weather triathlon — run on snow, mountain bike on packed trails, then cross-country ski to the finish.