This article was published in The Hoof Print, which is the high school newspaper at Alamo Heights. It was written ahead of the Winter Olympics in South Korea.
Every four years, the world puts aside their differences and countries come together to compete in the Winter Olympics. Beginning on Feb. 8, the best of the best will gather in Pyeongchang, South Korea and attempt to ski, skate or bobsled their way to gold.
The Winter Olympics provide a spectacular display of sports in the snow and on ice that Texans aren’t used to seeing. From the sparkling routines of figure skaters to the daring jumps of ski jumpers, a spotlight is placed upon events that many of us have either never seen or only get to witness every four years. Let’s take a look at some of the sports that you should be watching this February.
If you’re up for a mega sized version of shuffle-board on ice with some brooms, curling is the sport for you! Curling is played on a 42.07 meters sheet of ice that has a target/bull’s-eye at the end of it. This target is known as a “house”, and the center is called the “button”. The whole point of curling is for a team to get their granite stones closer to the button than those of the other teams. The granite stone is pushed by one player who guides the stone and then releases it. Once the stone is released, two players help warm up the temperature of the ice by sweeping brooms around the stone to reduce friction and help the stone continue on its desired path. Each team has eight stones per end, and the winner of the end is the team with the stone closest to the button. That team then gets a point for each stone that is in the house and closer to the button than the other team’s closest stone. The most points a team can get is eight and a curling match lasts 10 ends, unless there is a tie and extra ends are required.
Now let’s turn to bobsled, which is a sport that sees four person teams use a gravity powered sled to make runs through narrow ice tracks. Bobsled was invented by the Swiss in the 1860’s, and the first four-man at the Olympics took place at the 1924 Chamonix Games while women first competed in a two person race in 2002. The runs in bobsled at the Olympics are between 1,200 and 1,600 meters long with about 15 to 20 turns per course. Turns are generally very steep with some being built as high as six meters. Bobsleds have axles that are used to turn and brakes that press against the ice. The start of the race is of utmost importance to a team. All four runners begin pushing the bobsled to obtain maximum velocity, which can reach 160 kilometers (100miles) per hour, and then the runners jump in to the bobsled with the driver in front and brakeman in the back entering last. Each team goes through the track four times, and all the times are added up to determine the winner. If you want to get used to bobsled before the Olympics, make sure to watch Cool Runnings, a movie based on a true story about the first ever Jamaican bobsled team that qualified for the 1988 Olympics.
As for one of the most majestic yet terrifying sports at the Winter Olympics, ski jumping involves skiers going down a steep ramp that curves upward at the end, sending skiers off to incredible heights as they try to cover the most horizontal distance possible. A ski jumper starts at the top of a tower and skis down in a crouched position to accumulate speed. Speeds can reach 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour. Once the ski jumpers reach the end of the ramp for take-off, they spring outward. Skiers traditionally hold their skis straight out and parallel to each other but in the mid 1980’s, Swedish jumper Jan Boklov revolutionized the sport with his “V-style,” in which he held out his skis in opposite directions in a V shape. Ski jumpers land on a hill, and they’re judged on both distance covered and style. Ski jumpers attempt to land at or beyond the K-line (the point where the hill is steepest). Landing at the K-line results in 60 points, and points are added for each meter reached beyond and subtracted for each meter short of the K-line. Errors such as landing and touching the ground with a hand or not landing with one foot ahead of the other can result in style point deductions. Each ski jumper makes two jumps and, based on the weather, points can be added or subtracted depending on conditions such as wind direction and speed.
These Winter Olympics in particular do come with some highly sensitive political and global issues. The games are being held in South Korea, 50 miles away from the heavily secured border with North Korea. Tensions between the United States and North Korea have risen, and many have worried about sending athletes over to the Olympics because of the possible threat of an attack. Thankfully, it seems as though the Olympic spirit is winning. North Korea has announced they are sending a delegation to South Korea, which is a huge breakthrough for the two countries. In fact, both Koreas will have a unified women’s hockey team. This doesn’t mean all tensions are eased, but with a large delegation of its own people going, North Korea is seemingly much less likely to strike at the Olympics, and there’s now increased hope for continued talks of peace.
Since they occur every four years, you only get to experience the Winter Olympics once as a high school student. The Olympics are an incredibly special event, so I encourage everyone to tune in during February. And now you know about a few of the events, so you’ll be ready to watch as an expert!