Some of the events at the 2018 winter Olympics

(adapted from topendsports.com)

Skeleton

This extreme sport requires individuals to ride a small sled down a frozen track while lying face down and forward facing.

Skeleton was first on the program at the 1928 Winter Olympics, and again in 1948 Winter Olympics. After a long hiatus, it was reintroduced at the 2002 Winter Olympics with both men's and women's events.

Skeleton is a head-first version of the luge, and is run on the same track (as is bobsled). Amazingly, the skeleton sled has no steering or braking mechanism, the participants steer by movements of the body and travel at speeds up to 80 mph.

Bobsled

Men's bobsled has been on the Winter Games program since the first Winter Olympics in 1924, a women's event was only added in 2002. There are three Bobsleigh events at the Winter Olympics, two for men and one for women: Two-man, Two women, and Four-man.

Luge

Luge is billed as the fastest sport on ice. Competitors race down a specially designed track feet-first only inches from the ice. Luge was added to the Winter Olympics program for the first time in Innsbruck in 1964. There are four events in Luge: Men's Singles, Women Singles, Mixed Doubles and Mixed Team Relay event.

Ice Hockey

Ice hockey made its first appearance at the 1920 Summer Olympics. Four years later, what is now known as the first Winter Olympics was held, and an ice hockey event was included. A women's ice hockey event was added to the Olympic program in Nagano 1998. It was also the first time the ice hockey competition was open to professionals. There are currently two gold medals up for grabs in ice hockey - in men's and women's ice hockey.

Figure Skating

Figure skating was included in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. It has been on the program of all Winter Olympic Games. Figure skating events include Men's singles, Ladies' singles, Pairs, Mixed Team Event and Ice Dancing. The Figure skating team event was a new event added in 2014.

Speed Skating

Speed Skating at the Winter Olympics refers to long track speed skating. The speed skating events are held on a 400m oval on ice. The races are held as time trials with skaters starting in pairs. The skaters perform one inner curve and one outer curve on each lap, changing over on the back straight. Speed skating has been featured as a sport in the Winter Olympics since the first winter games in 1924. Women's events were added to the Olympic program for the first time in 1960.

Curling

For a long time, the curling event at the 1924 Games was considered a demonstration event. It was not until 2006 that the IOC decided that curling was officially part of the program and retroactively awarded medals to the 1924 curling teams. Curling is a technical sport played by two teams or four players on a rectangular sheet ice with large heavy, polished granite stones. The teams take turns sliding the stones down the ice towards the target. Two sweepers with brooms also accompany each stone to help direct them. The aim is to get the stone to stop in 'the house', a target at the end of the ice track. Basically, the team with the most points in the match wins, with a point awarded for every stone closer than the other team's best effort.

Alpine Skiing

Alpine skiing events were held for the first time at the Winter Olympics in 1936, though ski instructors were barred as they were classified as being professionals. This decision led to an Austrian and Swiss boycott, and to the decision not to have skiing events in the next games in 1940. In 1948 at St Moritz, men and women each had three alpine skiing events. Currently, there are 11 events.

Currently, Alpine Skiing includes 11 events - 5 disciplines for men and women: Downhill, Super G, Giant Slalom, Slalom, and Super Combined, plus a mixed team event. The rules are the same for all events, only the courses differ. The aim of all events is for the skier get down the mountain in the shortest possible time. There is no judging involved and races are timed in hundredths of a second. There are two 'technical' events (the slalom and the giant slalom), and two 'speed' events (the downhill and super-G) and one combined event, of a slalom and downhill run, where the winner is the skier with the fastest aggregate time.

Snowboarding

Snowboarding was first introduced to the Winter Olympic program at Nagano in 1998, and has since become one of the most popular events with spectators. There are four disciplines in the Snowboarding category at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Slopestyle was added for 2014, and for 2018 the big air event was while the parallel slalom event was dropped.

Parallel Giant Slalom — like slalom skiing, riders complete on a downhill course and have to pass through a series of gates.

Snowboard Cross — A group of snowboarders race down a snow course.

Halfpipe — participants perform tricks for points on a half pipe structure made of snow.

Slopestyle — in slopestyle, the aim is to perform the most difficult tricks while getting the highest amplitude off of jumps. The emphasis is to perform different types of tricks instead of doing one great trick repeatedly.

Big Air — the competitor on a snowboard perform tricks after launching off very large jumps, it is an extreme version of slopestyle.

Biathlon

The Winter Olympic sport of Biathlon is a discipline which combines both cross-country skiing and target rifle shooting events. The sport was first developed as a training exercise for Norwegian soldiers - with the first competition held in 1767. The cross-country skiing component covers a distance of 7 to 20km depending which event of the biathlon contest.

In the shooting component, .22 calibre rifles are used at a range of 50 meters. At each stop, competitors have five bullets and five targets to hit. Each miss in the sprint, pursuit, and relay events results in a 150-m penalty loop. Each miss in the individual event adds one minute to the athlete's final time.

Ski Jumping

Ski jumping has been an event at all Winter Olympics since the first held in 1924. The Large Hill competition was added to the program for the 1964 Games in Innsbruck. Ski jumping was an event just for men at the Winter Olympics until the women's event was added for the 2014 Games in Sochi.