To make it onto the Olympic programme, a sport first has to be recognised: it must be administered by an International Federation which ensures that the sport's activities follow the Olympic Charter. If it is widely practised around the world and meets a number of criteria established by the IOC session, a recognised sport may be added to the Olympic programme on the recommendation of the IOC's Olympic Programme Commission.
Ice hockey always attracts a big crowd at the Winter Olympics, and in Innsbruck it’ll be no different, especially if you’re Canadian. A dramatic overtime win against the USA saw the hosts take the gold medal in Vancouver 2010. The younger 2012 Team Canada in Austria will be hoping to do the same. Squad member Ryan Pilon is confident, but knows there’ll be some challenges along the way...
With one Olympic gold medal under her belt, two World Championship titles in her locker and World Cup wins in all five Alpine ski disciplines under her belt, it’s no exaggeration to say Lindsey Vonn has achieved hero status. But even heroes need somebody to look up to, and as a young racer starting out on the circuit Lindsey’s idol was none-other that Olympic super G champion Picabo Street.
As one of the outstanding champions of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, figure skater Yuna Kim from the Republic of Korea knows quite a bit about preparing physically and mentally for a big competition.