It’s finally here, it is Winter Olympics season.

There are 15 categories of sports at the Winter Olympics this year but we’ve chosen 6 sports that we’ll be turning on- from elegant moves to extreme speeds, the Winter Olympics has it all.

Bobsleigh

A team sport which involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. Events are either two-people or four-people athletes. The sleigh can reach speeds over 90 mph with the risk of severe injuries if the gravity is not be navigated meticulously. The most successful country in the sport is Switzerland but a famous movie, Cool Runnings, was made about the Jamaican bobsleigh team in their first bobsleigh appearance at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.

Figure Skating

An elegant mix of art and sport, includes singles, pair skating and ice dancing. So many greats from this sport (such as Katarina Witt) but who can forget one of the greatest competitive moments in Olympic history in Sarajevo 1984 when the legendary pair of Great Britain’s Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean…..scoring an all perfect 6.0 for artistic impression for their performance to Ravel’s “Bolero”.

Freestyle Skiing 

The various disciplines of freestyle skiing combining speed, showmanship and extreme skill. One’s to watch in Beijing will be Australian Jakara Anthony for the women’s individual moguls and the GOAT Michael Kingsbury in the men’s individual and dual moguls.

Luge

A small one or two-person sled on which they lie flat on their back and feet first. With speeds up to 90 mph, luge is one of the most dangerous sports in the Olympic Games. In fact, USA Luge has registered the trademark the phrase of “Fastest Spot on Ice”. Germany has been dominant in both men’s and women’s event, for decades, but the fastest speed ever was 93.46 mph set by Frank Williams (USA) in Canada on 16 September 2017.

Skeleton

Competitors ride by lying face down and head first, on a small sled, down an icy track against the clock. Speeds of 80 mph are reached with up to 5g of gravity acceleration. Multiple Olympic medalists in the sport include Lizzy Yarnold from Great Britain, who has won Gold at the last two winter Olympics.

Short Track Speed Skating

Competitors race against one another in one of four events, 500 meters, 1000 meters, 1500 meters, 3000 meters relay (women) or 5000 meters (men). South Korea has dominated the sports winning 42 medals with 21 Golds since 1992. One of the most accomplished short track speed skaters of all time, Viktor An. Born in South Korea, he represented South Korea until 2011 then Russia from 2011, became the first short track speedskater to have won Olympic Gold medals in all four short track disciplines (500m, 1000m, 1500m, 5000m relay).

Snowboard 

Combining elements of surfing, skateboarding and skiing, snowboarding made its debut at Nagano 1998. There are 11 events in the snowboard competition at Beijing 2022 including mixed team snowboard cross. The most widely known snowboarder is 3 time Olympic Gold-medalist, Shaun White.