The Winter Olympics start this February. The start marks the time when athletes and devoted fans from all over the world will flock to Milan and Cortina in Italy to watch as athletes skate, ski, jump and perform many other events in the hope of medals and glory. Milan is a large city fairly north of Italy, south of the Alps and a four-hour drive from Cortina, a province of Italy nestled into the Alps and the Dolomite mountain ranges. This region of Italy is famous for its food, amazing views and, in the winter, mountains perfect for skiing.
Dating back to more than 2000 years ago, the Olympics first happened in ancient Greece as a religious ceremony that also had competitions. It was brutal, as the losers of the running, jumping, boxing, wrestling and even chariot races could be killed or be subjected to torture. Yet still thousands of people came to see it. Back then, it was held in Olympia, Greece every four years, giving its name the Olympics. It was revived in 1894 by a Frenchman named Pierre de Coubertin who launched his plan for the Olympics and was successful, as the first modern day games were held in 1896 in Greece. Since then every four years the Summer Games have taken place, and starting in 1920, the Winter Games began, on another four year cycle.
The Olympics will kick off on February 6 with the opening ceremony, during which the athletes and their coaches will parade,holding the flag of their country. The Olympic Torch will also be presented, a traditional torch that has travelled all the way to Italy from being lit in Greece which is tradition that dates back many years
The Winter Olympics are famous for the snow events that the world rarely sees, except for during this famous two-week span when it’s televised. There are three main categories of these winter sports. The first category is cce sports. This includes niche sports like skeleton, luge and bobsled where people and sleds race. It also includes events like speed skating, with different length races and figure skating, where singles, pairs and groups perform perfectly choreographed dances on ice. The final ice sport is hockey, where men and women teams from around the world compete. Some favorites in this category are Canada, United States, Sweden and Norway. The second category of olympic winter sports includes alpine skiing and snowboarding. This includes skiing races, moguls, which are large bumps in the hill, slalom races, (snowboard too) where one has to go side to side to get through the gates, and some other specific races. Another alpine category is freestyle, where skiers and snowboarders do different events with big jumps and tricks. This group of events includes slopestyle with tricks, the half pipe, where skiers and snowboarders going up down a man made half pipe and do tricks in the air, and the ski jumping, where the skiers go down a steep slope and then look like they are flying as they sail though the air more than 200 meters (400 feet). The final category of the Winter Olympics is the nordic events. Sports like cross country skiing races and biathlon, which is a combination of cross country skiing while target shooting, are in this category. The last sport of this category is nordic combine, which is a combination of cross country skiing and ski jumping, and a new sport added this year called ski mountaineering. This sport involves climbing up and skiing down mountains in dangerous and cold conditions with little oxygen.
In all the Olympic events where medals can be won, the top three athletes get medals. During the ceremony, the first place athlete(s) get a gold medal, and then silver and bronze for second and third place. In the last Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, Norway scored the most gold medals, 16, and the most medals overall, 37. To put this in perspective, the United States placed fifth in medals with 25 and third in gold medals with nine. The other top countries for total medals in 2022 were (in order of second to fourth place) ROC (Russian athletes not competing under their flag due to a doping scandal where they were banned), Germany and Canada.
The Winter Olympics is a truly special time because sports and events that are rare and often not televised will be shown for the world to see. It is also special because the Olympics only happen every four years, so it is of even higher value to get to witness (for most people, on television) such jaw dropping action and sport. Not to mention the amazing mountains and landscapes of Northern Italy. Soon, the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics will kick off as spectators around the world watch incredible athletes ski, skate and snowboard their way to victory.
