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 Winter Olympics 2006
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The 2006 Winter Olympic Games on the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳
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Sports at the Winter Games
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Biathlon – Olympic sport since 1960
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Biathlon was originally a tactic of survival rather than a sport. The word "biathlon" stems from the Greek word for 'two contests'. Today it is interpreted as a joining of two sports: cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.
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Biathlon consists of ten events in the Olympic programme. Men and women compete in a sprint, pursuit, individual and relay. Although all biathlon disciplines combine skiing and marksmanship, the sport features several distinct events:
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Sprint - During the sprint, women race 7.5km and men race 10km. Competitors stop twice and must hit all five targets with five bullets. For each target missed, athletes take a lap around the 150m penalty loop. The top 60 finishers of this competition qualify for
the pursuit.
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Pursuit - In the pursuit, the competitors start at intervals based on their finishing time in the sprint competition. Women race 10km and men race 12.5km. Competitors stop four times and must hit all five targets with five bullets. For each target missed, athletes take a lap around the 150m penalty loop.
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Individual -
In the individual event, women race 15km and men race 20km. All competitors stop four times at the firing range and must hit all five targets with five bullets. For each target missed, one minute is added to their total time.
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Relay - The relay is a fast-paced team event in which four-person teams tackle four 7.5km legs for a total of 30km. It begins with a mass start by the first skiers of their respective teams. Each team member has two firing sequences and is allowed three extra bullets (a total of eight) to hit five targets, yet must load the three extra bullets one by one. For each target left standing, competitors ski a lap around the 150m penalty loop.
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Skeleton – Olympic sport since 1924
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Considered to be the world's first sliding sport, skeleton originated in the Swiss town of St Moritz in the late 1800s. The first competition was held in 1884. Riders raced down the road from St. Moritz to Celerina, where the winner received a bottle of Champagne.
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It wasn't until 1887 that riders began competing in the prone position used today. The sport took its name in 1892, when a new sled made mostly of metal was introduced. People thought it looked like a skeleton.
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Olympic skeleton events consists of two runs timed electronically to 0.01 seconds. The two runs are contested on the same day and the final standings determined by the aggregate time of the two runs.
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If athletes complete the competition in a tie, they receive the same award.
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Bobsleigh – Olympic sport since 1924
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Bobsleigh consists of three events in the Olympic programme. Men and women compete in two-man/two-woman, and skeleton events. Men also compete in four-man.
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There are slight differences between the men's and women's competitions.
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The men's Olympic bobsleigh competition lasts over two days, with two runs staged on each day. The competition consists of four runs timed to 0.01 seconds. The final standings are determined by the total time over the four runs; the winner is the sled with the lowest aggregate time. If two teams complete the competition in a tie, they are awarded the same place.
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The women's Olympic bobsleigh competition consists of two runs staged on the same day. Both runs are timed to 0.01 seconds and the final standings are determined by the total time over the two runs; the winner is the sled with the lowest aggregate time. If two teams complete the competition in a tie, they are awarded the same place.
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Curling
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Curling originated in the 16th century in Scotland, where games were played during winter on frozen ponds, lochs and marshes. The earliest-known curling stones came from the Scottish regions of Stirling and Perth and date back to 1511.
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The earliest reports of curling came from Paisley Abbey, Scotland, in 1541. In the early days of the sport, stones were taken from river bottoms. In the 1600s, stones with handles were introduced, allowing a delivery style similar to what is used today.
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The key developments in the sport in the 20th century have been the standardisation of the stones and the use of indoor, refrigerated ice facilities.
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At the Olympic Games, both women and men compete in ten-team events. Curling is a competition between two teams with four players each. The game is played on ice, and the two teams take turns pushing a 19.1kg stone towards a series of concentric circles. The object is to get the stone as close to the centre of the circles as possible.
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One game consists of ten "ends". An end is similar to a baseball inning. During each end, each team delivers eight stones - two stones per person. The team members deliver the stones in a set order presented to the officials before the game.
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The first player is known as the "lead". He/she is followed by the "second", then the "third" (also known as the "vice-skip") and finally the "skip", who is the leader of the team.
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Each end starts with the leads alternating throws until they have each thrown their two stones. They are followed by the seconds in the same manner, and so on.
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The score for the end is determined when all 16 stones have been delivered. The team that scores in an end shoots first in the next end. The team with the most points at the conclusion of ten ends is the winner.
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Ice Hockey – Olympic sport since 1920
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The word hockey comes from old French "hocquet" which meant "stick". The first Olympic Games to include ice hockey for men took place in 1920 in Antwerp. However, the first Olympic Winter Games took place in 1924 in Chamonix.
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At the Olympic Winter Games, women compete in an eight-team tournament (women's hockey was added to the Olympic Winter Games programme in Nagano in 1998), whereas men compete in a 14-team tournament.
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A team must not have more than six players on the ice while play is in progress. Typically, those players are one goal-tender, two defence men, two wings and one centre.
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A lesser amount of players can be on the ice as a result of penalties; a goal-tender can be replaced by a skater during a delayed penalty or at any other time of the game at a team's risk.
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A regular game consists of three 20 minute periods, with a 15 minute intermission after the first and second periods. Teams change ends for each period. If a tie occurs in a medal-round game in which a winner must be determined, a 10 minute sudden-death overtime period will be played subsequent to another 15 minute intermission.
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Luge – Olympic sport since 1964
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Luge is the French word for sled, and historical findings point to the existence of sleds as early as AD 800 with the Vikings in the Slagen countryside near the Oslo Fjord.
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The first international sled race occurred in 1883 in Davos, Switzerland, with 21 competitors from Australia, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.
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This race took place over 4km and was won by Georg Robertson, a student from Australia, and Peter Minsch, a mailman from Klosters. Both finished the race in just over nine minutes.
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The first World Championships occurred on an artificial track in Oslo in 1955. Two years later, the International Luge Federation (FIL) was founded in Davos and remains the governing body of luge today. It made its Olympic debut at the 1964 Games.
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Singles - In men's and women's singles, athletes take four runs down the track. Each run counts. The four times are added, and the fastest total time determines the winner. The competition takes two days to complete (two runs per day). Men and women compete on the same track, but the women start from a position further down the course.
The four-run format is unique to the Olympic Winter Games and is designed to reward consistency, endurance and ability to withstand pressure, particularly on the second day. At most events, such as the World Championships and World Cup races, singles are contested over two runs.
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Doubles -
Doubles luge is a one-day competition in which pairs of athletes take two runs down a course. Each run counts. The fastest total time determines the winner. The two-run format is also used in World Championships and World Cup races. There is no rule that says a doubles team must comprise members of the same sex, but traditionally, men have ridden together, with the larger man lying on top for a more aerodynamic fit.
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Skating
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Now somewhere between art and sport, skating on ice was, for hundreds of years, a rapid form of transportation across frozen lakes, rivers and canals, and the oldest form of skate (a length of bone attached to sandals with thongs) dates back to 20,000 years B.C.
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The Olympic Winter Games present three disciplines of skating: Figure Skating, including singles for Men and Ladies, pairs (a man and a woman) and ice dancing; Speed Skating; and Short Track Speed Skating for men and women.
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Skiing
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It was not long before Man worked out how to move quickly through deep snow in the wilder parts of the world, as paintings discovered in the Thirties clearly portray.
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On the ancient artefacts, which were found in Russia and are thought to be at least 6,000 years old, a hunter on rudimentary skis is clearly identifiable alongside reindeers.
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It is virtually certain that a form of skiing has been an integral part of life in colder countries since that time.
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The Olympic Winter Games present five disciplines of skiing: Alpine, Cross Country, Ski Jumping, Nordic Combined, Freestyle and now Snowboarding.
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To compete in these various disciplines one needs to master speed, endurance, dexterity, and determination.
Ìý Ones To Watch
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Alain Baxter
John and Sinead Kerr
Finlay Mickel
Chemmy Alcott
Jackie Davies and Nicola Miniechello
Men and Women Curling Teams
Kristan Bromley
Zoe Gillings
Sarah Lindsay
John Eley
Lesley McKenna Ìý
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