Friday 31 January 2014

Sochi 2014: The ultimate sporting guide to the Winter Olympics

The 22nd Winter Olympics get under way in Russia on 7 February, and, in anticipation, we have put together an informative sport guide for perusal.
There are ten events in total (five for men and five for women) offering a total of 30 medals. Competitions take place from February 6 to February 21.
Eight nations split into two groups will compete for the gold medal in a tournament that runs from February 8-20.
Twelve nations split into three groups will compete for the gold medal in a tournament that runs from February 12-23.
Competitors will compete in halfpipe, slopestyle and parallel slalom and giant slalom at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park.
There will be five titles up for grabs from February 6-20 with the team event making its Olympic debut.
The sport is divided between speed and technical disciplines. Five women's gold medals are awarded for downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom and the super-combined event.
The sport is divided between speed and technical disciplines. There are five men's gold medals for downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom and the super-combined event, with the downhill the highlight of the games.
There are 12 medals up for grabs in the speed skating discipline; six for men and six for women. Skaters race along the 400m oval in two lanes and switch on each lap with the competitor on the outside lane moving in holding the right of way. In the team pursuit race, two teams of three skaters start at opposite sides of the track with the race completed when the last of the skaters crosses the finish line.
Short track is an elimination event, where skaters race four to six at a time around an oval with no lanes. Unlike speed skating, racers compete against each other instead of a clock.
There are three events for men at the Olympics: the normal hill, the large hill and the team event. For the first time women will jump at the Olympics, but only on the normal hill. For the first time at an Olympics, new rules on compensating for wind conditions will apply, which mean athletes can be docked points for jumping in a wind the jury deems to be too favourable.
There are three events in Nordic Combined, which combines ski jumping and cross-country racing. It is the only Winter Olympic sport where women do not compete.
There will be 11 events at the Sochi Olympics, five for the men, five for the women and a mixed relay. The competitors race over a set distance and start at intervals of 30 seconds and have four shoots, the first and third in the prone position and the second and fourth standing. For every missed shot, a minute is added to the competitors' time.
There will be 12 gold medals up for grabs at the Sochi Olympics - six each for men and women in the individual, mass start, skiathlon, relay, sprint and sprint relay. Though there are different disciplines and different lengths of which the competitors compete on, essentially whoever finishes first wins.

Curling is played by two four-member teams, called rinks, on a sheet of ice 44.5 metres long and 4.75 metres wide. The aim is to deliver a polished stone, made of granite and with a handle on top, as close as possible to the centre of a series of concentric circles, known as the tee, and to knock away the stones of the opposing team at the same time.Team members sweep the ice in front of the stone as it glides, to keep the ice clean in the running path of the stone, speed it up or influence its direction.

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