Corporate Hospitality

Alpine Skiing – In alpine skiing, racers can reach speeds of more than 130 kilometres an hour, travelling down a vertical drop that ranges from 180 metres (slalom) to 1,100 metres (downhill) for men and 140 metres (slalom) to 800 metres (downhill) for women. The vertical drop is made even more difficult because of a series of gates the skiers must pass through. Skiers who miss a gate must then climb back up and go through the missed gate or be disqualified.

Cross-Country Skiing – was first added to the Winter Olympic Games schedule in 1924, in France, where only an 18-kilometre and 50-kilometre race for men took place. Ladies' cross-country skiing made its debut in 1952, in Oslo. The cross-country skiing technique known as skating or free technique, became a separate Olympic competitive discipline in 1988, in Calgary.

Biathlon – combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. When the athletes ski into the shooting range, they must put down their ski poles and take five shots at a metal target located 50 metres away. Each target has five plates, fixed in a straight row, which the athlete must hit. The hit area size changes depending on whether the athlete is shooting in a prone or standing position. When in a prone position, the hit area is the size of a golf ball (45 mm); standing, it’s the size of a large grapefruit (115 mm). A top athlete usually takes 20 to 25 seconds to aim and shoot five bullets. Missing a target plate can be costly: depending on the event, a missed shot means either one minute of added time or skiing a 150-metre penalty loop.

Bobsleigh, Skeleton & Luge – The three Olympic sliding sports are Bobsleigh, Skeleton and Luge. All three grew out of the practice of using a sled or toboggan – a light, narrow wooden platform on runners – to slide on snow or ice. To start the Bobsleigh, the racers push off as fast as they can for approximately 50 metres, then jump into the bobsleigh for a seated descent down the track. The driver steers down the track, while, at the end of the run, the brakeman stops the sled.

Curling – consists of two events: a women’s tournament and a men’s tournament. Each tournament starts with 10 curling teams. Two teams play against each other at a time. The game is played on ice, and the two teams take turns pushing 19.1-kilogram stones towards a series of concentric rings or circles. The object is to get the stones as close to the centre of the rings as possible.

At the Olympic Games, Figure Skating – has four disciplines which are adjudicated by a separate panel of 12 International Skating Union (ISU) championship judges using a computer scoring system to measure the quality of each performance. Before each event, there is a secret and random draw to determine which judges’ scores will form the result of the segment. Only nine of the 12 scores are used. A new draw is done for each segment. During each performance the judges assign a grade of execution (GOE) to every element that is executed. This makes up the technical score. At the conclusion of each performance, the judges assign additional program component scores that measure the overall technical and presentation abilities of the skater or team. The individual or team with the highest totals of technical and program component scores is deemed the winner. In addition to the panel of judges, there is also a technical panel that determines the name and the level of difficulty of each element as it is performed.

There are three Olympic Freestyle Skiing – events for both men and women. Tricks in freestyle skiing include the twister, spread-eagle, iron cross, and the helicopter – an upright 360-degree spin.

During the Olympic Winter Games the Ice Hockey – will consist of eight women’s teams and 12 men’s teams competing in round-robin tournaments. Top seeded teams from round robin play advance to the playoff rounds. A team must not have more than six players on the ice while play is in progress. The object is for one team to get the puck (a hard black rubber disc) past the other team’s goaltender and into the net, similar to football. A regular game consists of three 20-minute periods, with a 15-minute intermission after the first and second periods. If a tie occurs in a game in which a winner must be determined, a sudden-victory overtime period is played. During the gold medal game, a 20-minute, sudden-victory period is played. In the event of a tie after a sudden-victory period, a game-winning shoot-out determines the winner. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games ice hockey tournaments are played on a North American ice surface which is four metres narrower than international rinks.

Men have competed in Nordic Combined – individual events since the first Olympic Winter Games in 1924. The jumping portion occurs first, followed by a free technique cross-country race. The break between the jumping and the cross-country race can be as little as 35 minutes, or as long as a few hours. Known as a “Gundersen” or pursuit start, the jumping results generate the starting seed for the cross-country race that follows, with the second and remaining athletes beginning seconds or even minutes after the best jumper. Using pack-racing strategies, the athletes cluster into “trains” that chase down other athlete trains. The winner of the Nordic combined event is the first athlete across the cross-country finish line .

Short Track Speed Skating – takes place on a 111.12-metre oval track within a hockey rink. Tight corners make it difficult for skaters to maintain control. A boardless padding system is now used replacing the stand-alone board system. This ensures an increased safety for the athletes. Short track speed skaters compete against each other, rather than the clock. The competition consists of a series of heats with four or six athletes. The first two athletes in each heat advance to the next round until only four skaters remain for the final. The men’s and ladies’ short track relays take place over two days and consist of semi-final and final competitions. Eight teams of four skaters plus a substitute take part in the relay. The teams decide how many laps each of their members will race, with the understanding that the final two laps must be covered by the same skater. It is unusual for an individual athlete to exceed 1.5 laps, meaning there are some seven or eight relay exchanges per athlete. Instead of passing a baton, the skater on the ice needs to only tag the next skater to complete an exchange. In order to maintain momentum, however, it is more common for the next skater to crouch and receive a push from behind.

Ski Jumping – An athlete skis down a long ramp, referred to as the in-run, and launches into the air at speeds of up to 95 kilometres per hour. Technique is integral to ski jumping as athletes must perform a very precise and well-timed takeoff. Once in the air, jumpers assume the V-style and adjust their position to maximize lift and minimize drag. Competitors are evaluated on distance and style and while there is a very close relationship between the two, the skier with the longest jump will often have the highest style points. An exception to this can be found in the landing portion of the jump as long jumps can make landing in a controlled telemark position more difficult. The quality of landing can be a determining factor in deciding the finishing place when the distances are similar. The distance ski jumpers travel in competition is closely regulated by a jury. At the start of the competitive round, the jury selects a start gate that allows the best athletes to fly close to the maximum safe distance. All athletes start from the same gate and, as a result, less proficient jumpers fly a shorter distance. Ski jumps are designed with many start benches allowing the jury to select the appropriate start gate based on conditions such as wind, temperature, humidity, snow type and other factors that can impact the distance a jumper flies.

Snowboard – In the halfpipe, one snowboarder at a time performs a routine of acrobatic jumps, twists and tricks on the inside of a half-cylinder-shaped snow tube or ramp while moving from one side of the halfpipe to the other. The riders are judged on the height and style of their tricks. In the parallel giant slalom, two snowboarders race head-to-head down a course, turning through a series of gates. The fastest goes on to the next round. The top finishers compete in a total of nine runs. In snowboard cross, four racers start in a pack down a course, racing against each other over rolling terrain and a series of jumps and ramps. The fastest two racers from each heat move on to the next round.