What is women’s monobob?

Unlike in the traditional bobsled competition, where two or four athletes navigate a sled down the hill — either pushing or steering — only person per sled competes in monobob, doing both jobs. And unlike bobsled, where each team can manipulate its sled to achieve peak performance, every competitor uses the same type of sled in monobob. But the goal remains the same: to get down the course with the fastest time and without crashing. Two-time Olympic bobsled gold medalist Kaillie Humphries , shown in the below video, is seen as a monobob favorite in Beijing. But there’s one big difference for her at these Olympics: Unlike in her past four Olympics, when she competed for Canada, Humphries will represent the United States in Beijing after becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen in December. You may be asking: Why is there no men’s monobob? It’s because the men’s bobsled competition has both two- and four-man competitions, whereas women’s bobsled has only a two-woman event. By adding women’s monobob, the number of sled events evens up at two apiece for men and women. Women’s monobob will take place Feb. 12 and 13 at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre starting at 8:30 p.m. Eastern both nights.

What is mixed team ski jumping?

A fifth ski jumping event was added to this year’s Olympic program, with men and women forming a four-person team for each country. The teams will jump in a woman-man-woman-man sequence at the National Ski Jumping Centre, and each competitor’s jump is scored on two factors: how far they travel down the hill and their landing and style, the latter determined by a panel of five judges. The mixed ski jumping competition will take place on the normal hill, which is the shorter of the two. Each jumper will take two scored jumps, making for eight jumps per team, and each jumper’s score is added up to determine the medal-winning teams. The mixed ski jumping competition is limited to nations that have qualified two jumpers of each gender in the individual events. This means there will be no U.S. teams in mixed ski jumping, as no American woman qualified for Beijing. The mixed team ski jumping event will take place Feb. 7 starting at 5:25 a.m. Eastern.

What is aerials mixed team freestyle skiing?

Each team in aerials mixed team freestyle skiing consists of three athletes, and each can choose whether they want two women and one man or vice versa. Each skier will have two runs, and the team’s individual scores are added together. Most points wins. The scoring is fairly simple: Athletes receive a score from a group of judges based on the skill of their tricks and form they display on each of their runs. The aerials mixed team freestyle skiing competition will take place at Shougang Park on Feb. 10 at 6 a.m. Eastern.

What is big air freestyle skiing?

In big air freestyle skiing, the competitors launch themselves off a ramp and perform tricks that are graded on difficulty, execution, amplitude and landing. There are two rounds in big air, a qualification round and final round, with the competitors getting three runs in each. The top 12 riders from the qualification round will advance to the final, and each athlete’s top two scores from the final round are added together to get the final results. Each competitor also must spin their tricks in different directions on the two qualifying runs. So what’s the difference between big air and aerials? In big air, the athletes ski off a ramp that continues their descent, meaning they perform their tricks as they fly through the air down the hill. In aerials, the ramp sends the skiers nearly straight up in the air, where they perform their tricks before landing on the other side of the ramp. The big air competitions will take place at Shougang Park on the following dates: Feb. 6, 8:30 p.m.: women’s and men’s qualification Feb. 7, 9 p.m.: women’s final Feb. 8, 10 p.m.: men’s final

What is mixed team snowboardcross?

The first mixed team snowboard event at the Olympics features snowboarders racing on a downhill course. One man and one woman will make up each team. A snowboard team competition is something of a relay, in that the second snowboarder starts their run when the other crosses the finish line, and whichever team crosses the finish line first is the winner. After the field is winnowed down during the qualifying rounds, there are two final rounds, the big final and the small final, with two teams each. The winner of the big final gets the gold medal and the loser silver, while the winner of the small final earns bronze. The mixed team snowboardcross competition will take place at Genting Snow Park on Feb. 11 at 9 p.m. Eastern.

What is the mixed team relay in short-track speedskating?

Each team in the short-track speedskating mixed relay consists of four skaters who race over 2,000 meters (1.24 miles). Unlike in track relays at the Summer Olympics, no batons are passed. Instead, a skater at the end of their leg pushes their teammate from behind to get them going. Plus, the skaters sometimes take multiple turns on the ice. The only rules are that all four skaters must participate, and the same skater must take the final two laps. There will be eight teams from eight nations competing in the mixed relay, which will take place at Capital Indoor Stadium on Feb. 5 at 7:25 a.m. Eastern.

Olympics

There are seven new events at the Winter Olympics. Here’s what to know

By Matt Bonesteel

February 2, 2022 at 5:01 a.m. EST

Canada's Cynthia Appiah competes in a women's monobob World Cup event in Saint-Moritz, Switzerland. (Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann)

In July 2018, the International Olympic Committee announced it was adding seven new events to the Winter Olympics in an effort to increase female participation and appeal to younger audiences. Those new sports will debut at this year’s Winter Games in Beijing.

Here’s a look at the new sports: women’s monobob, mixed team ski jumping, aerials mixed team freestyle skiing, men’s and women’s big-air freestyle skiing, snowboardcross mixed team and a mixed team relay in short-track speedskating.

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The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics have come to a close.

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“Olympic governance is not apolitical. It is recklessly illogical. It is not protecting athletes and competitive integrity in adherence to the convoluted standards of the World Anti-Doping Agency.” Read Jerry Brewer.

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