Winter sports is the umbrella for everything contested on snow and ice. It is not one sport but a family of them: skiing in all its forms, skating, sliding down ice tracks, and a few sports that mix them together. At the Winter Olympic Games the family has 16 disciplines and more than a hundred medal events, from the downhill to the curling sheet.

This guide covers the disciplines as they appear at the Winter Games, where most winter-sport fans meet them.

Snow sports

Alpine skiing is downhill skiing: racing down a marked course on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Its events are downhill, slalom, giant slalom, super-G and the combined, which mixes speed and technical events. Alpine skiing has been part of the Winter Olympics since the first Winter Games in 1924.

Cross-country skiing is endurance racing across snow-covered terrain, with skiers propelling themselves with skis and poles. Events include sprints, distance races, relays and the skiathlon, which combines two techniques in one race.

Ski jumping asks athletes to descend a specially built ramp on skis and fly as far as possible, with style points added to distance. Events are held on the normal hill and the large hill, plus team events.

Nordic combined joins the two Nordic sports: one ski jump, then a cross-country race, with the jumping result deciding the starting order and gaps for the race.

Freestyle skiing covers the acrobatic side of the mountain: moguls, aerials, ski cross, halfpipe and slopestyle, where athletes are judged on tricks and style as well as speed.

Snowboarding has its own board-based events: parallel giant slalom, snowboard cross, halfpipe, slopestyle and big air.

Biathlon combines cross-country skiing with rifle shooting. Athletes ski laps of a course and stop to shoot at targets; missed shots cost time or penalty laps. It has been an Olympic sport since the 1960 Games.

Ski mountaineering, a race up and down mountains on skis, joined the Olympic programme for the first time at Milano Cortina 2026.

Ice sports

Figure skating is the artistic heart of the Winter Games, with men's and women's singles, pair skating, ice dance and a team event. Skaters are judged on jumps, spins, footwork and artistry. It was contested at the Summer Games in 1908 before joining the Winter Games in 1924.

Speed skating is long-track racing on a 400-metre oval, with distances from 500 metres to 10,000 metres, plus a mass start and team pursuit. The Netherlands has long been the sport's strongest nation.

Short track speed skating is the same idea on a much smaller oval, 111.12 metres around, with four to six skaters racing together over 500 to 1500 metres and in relays. It is fast, tactical and full of overtakes and falls, and has been Olympic since 1992.

Curling is often described as chess on ice. Teams slide granite stones down a sheet of ice towards a target area called the house, while sweepers brush the ice to control speed and direction. It was in the first Winter Games in 1924 and became a permanent Olympic sport in 1998. There are men's, women's and mixed doubles events.

Ice hockey is the Winter Games' big team sport, with men's and women's tournaments. On GoalZaro it has its own category, so it is covered in detail there.

Sliding sports

Bobsleigh is team sled racing down a narrow, twisting, banked ice track in a gravity-powered sled. Events are two-man, four-man, two-woman and the women's monobob. It has been Olympic since the first Winter Games in 1924.

Luge is a small one- or two-person sled ridden lying on the back, feet first, at speeds that can exceed 150 km per hour. Events are men's and women's singles, doubles and a team relay. It joined the Olympics in 1964.

Skeleton is the oldest of the sliding sports in spirit: a single athlete rides a small sled down the same ice track lying face down and head first, steering with tiny body movements. It appeared at the 1928 and 1948 Games and became a permanent Olympic sport in 2002.

How the Winter Games work

The Winter Olympic Games are held every four years, organised by the International Olympic Committee, and bring together thousands of athletes across the 16 disciplines. The first Winter Games were held in 1924, and the programme has grown steadily since — skeleton returned permanently in 2002, and ski mountaineering was the first new discipline added since then, at Milano Cortina 2026.

How to follow it

Winter sports reward the patient viewer. In the timed events — alpine skiing, bobsleigh, luge, skeleton and speed skating — the winner is decided by hundredths of a second, and the drama is in the split times. In the judged events — figure skating, freestyle skiing and snowboarding — watch the landings and the difficulty of the tricks. And in curling, give it an end or two: once you see a team guard a stone, draw around it and steal a point, the strategy clicks into place.