i want facts about the winter olpmpics!

http://olympic.org/uk/index_uk.asp

The history of the Winter Olympics:

http://infoplease.com/ipsa/A0115110.html

Freestyle Skiing
The word ''mogul'' comes from the Austrian word ''mugel,'' which means ''small hill'' or ''mound.''

Figure Skating
Men is gold medal favorite Yevgeny Plushenko is the first & only skater in history to successfully land a quad-triple-triple jump combination in competition.

Curling
Curling is one of four winter Olympic sports contested indoors. The other three r hockey, figure skating, & speed skating.

Luge
German Luge master Georg Hackl will attempt to add to his legend & win a medal in his sixth straight games at Turin in 2006. Hackl is already the only athlete to medal in the same event in five straight games.

Nordic Combined
Nordic combined is one of three current Olympic Winter Games events in which the United States has never won a medal. (Biathlon & curling r the others.)

Snowboarding
According to the National Sporting Goods Association, U.S. consumers spent nearly than $270 million on snowboarding equipment in 2004. That is more than hockey & football equipment combined ($225 million).

Skeleton
American Jennison Heaton won the first skeleton gold medal in 1928, beating his brother John, who took the silver, by one second. A 39-year-old John Heaton would win the silver again in 1948, finishing second to Italy is Nino Bibbia. American Jim Shea, Jr., won the men is gold in the 2002 return of the sport to the Olympics.

Ice Hockey
Ice hockey made its Olympic debut at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. The first Winter Olympics did not take place until 1924.

Speed Skating
American Shani Davis narrowly failed in his historic attempt to compete on both the long track & short track speed skating teams at the same Olympics but as the world record holder in the men is 1500 meters he will still be a favorite to medal in the long track events at Turin.

Alpine Skiing
American skier & Turin gold medal threat Lindsey Kildow was awarded a cow by some local dairy farmers for her World Cup win in Val D'Isere, France in 2005. She had a choice between the cow or an additional $1,200 in prize money. She went with the cow.

Biathlon
The first known biathlon competition took place between two Norwegian guard companies in 1767.

Bobsled
It is been 18 years since the Jamaican bobsled team made its debut at the Olympics.

Ski Jumping
The oldest man to receive a Winter Olympics medal is 83-year-old Anders Haugen. The Norwegian-American actually received his ski jump bronze medal 50 years after he competed in 1924 when a scoring error was discovered in 1974.

Winter Olympics Through the Years
The Shea Family of Lake Placid, New York, is the first to produce three generations of Olympians. Father Jack, 91, was a double-gold medalist in speed skating, son Jim, Sr., was a U.S. ski team member at the 1964 Innsbruck Games, & in 2002 grandson Jim, Jr., won a gold medal in skeleton.

All-Time Medal Standings
Only two countries south of the equator have ever won medals at the Olympic Winter Games—Australia & New Zealand.

Wisconsin
Legends Eric Heiden & Dan Jansen , as well as current stars Chris Witty & Casey FitzRandolph, r from the same U.S. state, Wisconsin.

Norway
Norway has won more gold medals at the Winter Games than any other country.