The Winter Olympic Games is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games,the 1924 Winter Olympics,were held in Chamonix,France. The modern Olympic Games were inspired by the ancient Olympic Games,which were held in Olympia,Greece,from 776 BCE to 394 CE. The Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 1,500 years later in 1894,leading to the first modern Summer Olympic Games in Athens,Greece in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement,with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority. The original five Winter Olympic Sports were bobsleigh,curling,ice hockey,Nordic skiing,and skating. The Games were held every four years from 1924 to 1936,interrupted in 1940 and 1944 by World War II,and resumed in 1948. Until 1992,the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games were held in the same year. A decision to change this was made in 1986,when during the 91st International Olympic Committee session,IOC members decided to alternate the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games on separate four-year cycles in even-numbered years. Also,at that same congress it was decided that 1992 Winter Olympics would be the last to be held in the same year as the Summer Games and that to change the rotation,the games that would be held in 1996 would be brought forward by two years,being scheduled to 1994. After those games,the next were to be held in 1998 when the four-year Olympic Cycle resumed.
The Paralympic Games or Paralympics,also known as the Games of the Paralympiad,is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games,which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul,South Korea,have been held shortly after the corresponding Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
The 2010 Winter Paralympics,or the tenth Paralympic Winter Games,were held in Vancouver and Whistler,British Columbia,Canada from March 12 to 21,2010. The opening ceremony took place in BC Place Stadium in Vancouver and the Closing Ceremony in Whistler Medals Plaza.
Russia,referred to by its formal name;the Russian Federation,by the International Olympic Committee,has competed at the modern Olympic Games on many occasions,but as different nations in its history. As the Russian Empire,the nation first competed at the 1900 Games,and returned again in 1908 and 1912. After the Russian revolution in 1917,and the subsequent establishment of the Soviet Union in 1922,it would be thirty years until Russian athletes once again competed at the Olympics,as the Soviet Union at the 1952 Summer Olympics. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991,Russia competed as part of the Unified Team in 1992,and finally returned once again as Russia at the 1994 Winter Olympics.
Canada has competed at every Winter Olympic Games,and has won at least one medal each time. By total medals,the country's best performance was in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games where Canadian athletes won 29 medals. Canada set a new record for most gold medals won by a country in a single Winter Olympics with 14 at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver,Canada. This achievement surpassed the previous record of 13 gold medals held by the Soviet Union (1976) and Norway (2002). Both Germany and Norway matched the record total of 14 gold medals in Pyeongchang in 2018. This record has since been surpassed by Norway with 16 at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Jasey-Jay Anderson is a Canadian snowboarder and Olympic gold medallist,who competed in the 1998,2002,2006,2010,2014,2018,Winter Olympics. Anderson currently resides in Mont-Tremblant outside of Montreal.
Short-track speed skating has been a contest at the Winter Olympics since the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville,France. Prior to that,it was a demonstration sport at the 1988 games. The results from the 1988 demonstration competition are not included in the official Olympic statistics. The sport has been dominated by teams from East Asia and North America,namely South Korea,China,Canada and the United States. Those four countries have won 147 of 195 medals awarded since 1992. South Korea leads the medal tally,with 53 medals including 26 golds since 1992. The majority of medals that South Korea and China have won at the Winter Olympics come from short-track speed skating.
Thomas Ulsrud was a Norwegian curler from Oslo. He won a silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics,one World Curling Championship,two European Curling Championships,and fourteen Norwegian titles. He was also known for being the skip of the team that competed while wearing colourful harlequin trousers at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. Team Ulsrud's combined showmanship and sportsmanship became iconic and contributed to reviving worldwide interest in curling since then. In 2024,he was posthumousely inducted into the World Curling Hall of Fame.
Canada has sent athletes to every Winter Olympic Games and every Summer Olympic Games since its debut at the 1900 games with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics,which it boycotted along with the USA and other countries. Canada has won at least one medal at every Olympics in which it has competed. The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) is the National Olympic Committee for Canada.
Brian McKeever is a Canadian cross-country skier and biathlete,who became Canada's most decorated Winter Paralympian when he won his 14th medal at the 2018 Winter Paralympics. He finished the 2018 Games with a career total of 13 gold medals and 17 medals,making him the most decorated Paralympic cross-country skier ever. McKeever claimed a 16th Paralympic gold medal in the men's para cross-country middle distance vision impaired race at Beijing 2022,drawing him level with the German para-alpine racer Gerd Schönfelder for the most men's Winter Paralympic wins.
Darya Uladzimirauna Domracheva is a retired Belarusian biathlete and coach who competed in the Biathlon World Cup from 2006 to 2018. She won a gold medal in the 4×6 km relay and a silver medal in the mass start competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics,three gold medals in the pursuit,individual,and mass start competitions at the 2014 Winter Olympics,and a bronze medal in the individual competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics. She was a Biathlon World Cup overall winner for the 2014–15 season.
China participated at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver,British Columbia,Canada,sending its largest delegation at a Winter Olympics with 94 athletes. China had its best ever Winter Olympics medal finish,winning five gold medals and eleven in total,finishing seventh in the medal standings.
Xu Mengtao is an Olympic Champion Chinese aerial skier. She has 27 World Cup victories and an Olympic Gold. She is also the current World Cup leader and became the first Chinese woman to win an Olympic gold in the Aerial Ski event during her fourth Olympics at the age of 31. She was one of Team China's flag bearers,at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic's closing ceremony.
Qi Guangpu is a Chinese aerial skier. He is a double world champion and the reigning Olympic champion in Aerials,who won gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Ukraine made its Paralympic Games début at the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta,with thirty athletes competing in archery,track and field,powerlifting,swimming,and sitting volleyball. Vasyl Lishchynskyy won Ukraine's first Paralympic gold medal,in the shot put,and Ukrainians also won four silver medals and two bronze. Ukrainians had previously participated within the Soviet Union's delegation in 1988,and as part of the Unified Team in 1992. Ukraine,following its independence from the Soviet Union,missed out on the 1994 Winter Games,but made its Winter Paralympics début at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano. Ukraine has competed at every edition of the Summer and Winter Games since then and have done so with remarkable success.
Vitaliy Volodymyrovych Lukyanenko is a Ukrainian biathlete,cross-country skier,and Paralympian.
Oleksandr Volodymyrovych Abramenko is a Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist freestyle skier,specializing in aerials. He is the 2015–16 Aerials World Cup winner. He competed at the 2006,2010,2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics,winning the Olympic gold medal in the men's aerials event at Pyeongchang. Abramenko is also 2019 World Championships and 2022 Winter Olympics silver medalist.
The men's aerials competition in freestyle skiing at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held on 15 February (qualification) and 16 February (final),at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou. Qi Guangpu of China won the event;this was his first Olympic gold medal. Oleksandr Abramenko of Ukraine,the defending champion,won the second medal,and Ilya Burov,representing the Russian Olympic Committee,won bronze,replicating his 2018 achievement.
The mixed team aerials competition in freestyle skiing at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held on 10 February,at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou. This was the first time a mixed team short freestyle skiing event is featured at the Olympics. The United States team,represented by Ashley Caldwell,Christopher Lillis,and Justin Schoenefeld,won the event. China with Xu Mengtao,Jia Zongyang,and Qi Guangpu won the silver medal,and Canada with Marion Thénault,Miha Fontaine,and Lewis Irving became the bronze medalist.
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