BERLIN (Reuters) – Focus on freestyle skiing at the Beijing Olympics:
THE ABSOLUTE BASICS
*There are 13 events in freestyle skiing.
*Men and women’s freestyle big air and aerials mixed team are new additions this year.
*Athletes in the aerials events, halfpipe, slopestyle and moguls are scored by a panel of judges based on the complexity and skill involved in their tricks. For big air, competitors are also judged by the height and distance of their jumps.
HOW MANY MEDALS? Thirteen gold medals, including one for the new aerials mixed team event.
WHAT HAPPENED IN PYEONGCHANG?
Americans and Canadians led the field in many of the freestyle disciplines at the 2018 Games. Canadians Kelsey Serwa and Brittany Phelan claimed the top two spots in a nail-biting women’s ski cross final, while Americans David Wise and Alex Ferreira took first and second place in the halfpipe event.
WHAT CAN WE EXPECT IN BEIJING?
The usual crop of North American contenders will be confident of picking up medals. China may also get a shot at glory via U.S.-born Eileen Gu, a rare athlete who competes in all three big air, halfpipe and slopestyle events. Gu began representing China internationally several years ago and will be competing for the host country next month. WHAT’S NEW?
Beijing will mark the introduction of freestyle big air events as well as the mixed team freestyle skiing aerials.
WHEN IS IT HAPPENING?
The freestyle skiing competition will take place from Feb. 5 to 14.
WHERE IS IT HAPPENING?
At Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, around 180km northwest of Beijing. Shougang Park, built on a site that was once a steel mill, will host the big air and aerial events.
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
Initially, freestyle skiing was seen more as an entertaining sideshow than a serious sport. After a demonstration at the Calgary Games in 1988, freestyle skiing was formally inducted into the Olympics programme in 1992. New events like ski cross, halfpipe and slopestyle have been added to the competition.
WELL FANCY THAT
Freestyle skiing has its roots in stunt skiing going back to the 1930s. As skiers attempted flashier and more daring slides down the mogul in the 60s, their style came to be known as “hot dog skiing”. A contestant involved in one such competition in the ’70s told a Canadian broadcaster at the time that the sport’s rules were simple: “Get it on! Let it all hang out!”
(Reporting by Mari Saito; Editing by Ken Ferris)
