Compared with the Summer Olympic Games, the Winter Olympics can be said to be a grand event of "human ice and snow extreme sports".
What are the fastest, hardest and most dangerous of these extreme sports? Today, let's take stock of the best of several Winter Olympics and understand the "limit of the limit".
The most dangerous project – the steel frame snowmobile
"The end of the slope is orthopedics" has become a popular terrier in recent days. Ice and snow sports are basically high-risk events, and the most dangerous of them is the steel frame snowmobile, which was kicked out of the Winter Olympics twice because it was too thrilling.
Steel-framed snowmobiles are also known as swooping ice sleds. Athletes need to lie on the sled and slide down the track with their heads down, reaching a top speed of 130-140 kilometers per hour, also known as an "ice dive machine".
Steel frame snowmobile race Source: Visual China
Steel-framed snowmobiles have no steering and brakes, and athletes can only rely on body movement to control direction. Due to its extreme speed, head down, and extreme danger, the steel frame snowmobile was originally only included in the competition at the 2nd and 5th Winter Olympics.
Later, improvements in engineering made it possible to build high-level tracks, and steel-framed snowmobiles became routine projects after the 19th Winter Olympics in 2002.
The Delegation of American Samoa attended the opening ceremony. Source: Xinhua News Agency
At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the American Samoa brother who appeared in the oil and bare shoulders participated in the steel frame snowmobile project.
The most expensive project - the snowmobile
Also known as a "luge", the bobsleigh sits in a steerable directional bobsleigh and glides down the twisted, sloping ice track at high speed. The average speed is about 100 kilometers per hour, up to 160 kilometers, so it is called "Ice F1".
The body of the snowmobile is made of steel and high-tech materials such as fiberglass or carbon fiber, and the price ranges from tens to millions of yuan. Because it is too expensive, some countries will choose to rent, but the freight is not a small amount, and the one-way freight of each snowmobile costs four or five thousand euros.
Chinese snow racing team at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea Source: Xinhua News Agency
Affected by the epidemic this year, the number of flights is limited, and the freight rate is even more expensive. According to the Us "Forbes" news report, the U.S. team's snowmobile must first transit in Europe, and then transported to China, the freight of each crate is about 140,000 yuan, while the U.S. team's snowmobile equipment has a total of 8 boxes, and the degree of burning money can be imagined.
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, the domestic Red Flag snowmobile will be unveiled, achieving a "breakthrough of zero" for domestic snowmobiles.
The most "volume" project - alpine skiing
After talking about ice projects, let's talk about snow projects, and the "hit" is alpine skiing.
Alpine skiing is simply a faster movement than who slides down from the mountain, no need to turn over, do skills, just need to turn, who first to the end of the mountain who wins.
There are 307 successful athletes registered for alpine skiing at the Beijing Winter Olympics, which is the largest number of snow sports, and the participating athletes cover more than 80 countries and regions, so it is also known as one of the most "rolled" events. This is largely due to the IOC's intention to increase the popularity of winter sports through the project, and its quota rules are relatively relaxed.
As a result, tropical countries such as Haiti, the Philippines, Ghana, Ecuador, or countries with small delegations, almost all participate in alpine skiing.
The youngest event – the freestyle ski jump
The Beijing Winter Olympics is the "Winter Olympic Debut" of the freestyle ski jumping event, and the youngest of the "Six Brothers of the Winter Olympics" in freestyle skiing (the other five are aerial skills, snow skills, U-shaped track skills, slope obstacle course skills and obstacle chases).
On February 8, China's Gu Ailing competed in the final of the freestyle ski women's big jump at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Source: Xinhua News Agency
Athletes descend from a nearly 50-meter slope and then leap at the end of the slope to complete a combination of technical movements such as flips, turns, and grabs.
China's Gu Ailing won the gold medal in this event, and it was also the first gold medal in the history of the Winter Olympics.
The toughest event – biathlon
After talking about the youngest event, let's talk about an old sport - the biathlon, which is a combination of cross-country skiing and shooting. The project originated in Northern Europe and evolved from the skiing and hunting activities of ancient hunters.
During the competition, the athlete wears ski cross-country equipment, carries a rifle, glides a certain distance and shoots once, which takes the least amount of time to win. Athletes are required to take the transformation of movement and static to the extreme.
Athletes shoot in a biathlon competition on February 5 Image: Xinhua News Agency
The athlete's taxi route is composed of natural undulating areas such as flat, uphill, and downhill, and after gliding for a certain distance, they reach the shooting position and quickly adjust their equipment to shoot. Shoot 5 targets with 5 bullets at a distance of 50 meters with 5 bullets at a time.
When competing, most players shoot in less than 20 seconds. Time is so tight that even breathing has become an "art": if you hold your breath too long, your vision will be blurred due to lack of oxygen; if you exhale, you will have to shoot again, wasting precious time.
In addition, when athletes arrive at the shooting range after high-speed taxiing, their heart rate will be as high as 180 beats per minute, while people normally have 60-100 beats per minute. When the heart beats so violently, the beating of the pulse at the fingertips also affects the accuracy of the shot. In order to counteract the effects of hand shaking, athletes also receive professional training from sports psychologists when training to learn how to keep a clear head.
If the players are off target, they will also be extra time or fined to skate a few laps, making the sport ups and downs, and there is often a situation of losing into winning.
In the field of the Winter Olympic Games, each sport showed the "fast and furious" of the athletes, as well as the Olympic spirit of constantly challenging the limits, and wished the athletes a good performance in the next competition. You are also welcome to leave a message to share your "best of the Winter Olympics".
Editor: Yang Meng
Coordinator: Wang Shaoyu