To different people, winter can mean different things. One view of winter is that it is a time for staying in-doors, drinking hot coco, and roasting chestnuts. While this might be the predominant view of winter, still there are people who look forward to winter every year, because to them, it is the season when they can be active in some of their favorite sports. Winter sports are some of the most popular and beloved sports in the world, and in this article we are going to take a look at the most popular ones.
Ice hockey
Ice hockey is one of the most popular winter sports in the world, but especially in countries associated with cold winters. Places like Canada, The United States, Russia, Finland, and the Scandinavian countries is where ice hockey thrives.
The sport was originally developed in Canada, where it is still hugely popular today. In fact, ice hockey is Canada’s national sport, and is played by a huge percentage of Canadians from a very young age. Some of the most popular ice hockey teams come from Canada, and the Canadian national team is considered one of the “Big Six” of ice hockey.
Ice hockey is also hugely popular on the betting scene. While not as popular as its field counterpart, ice hockey is still covered widely and thoroughly on online betting sites like the ones on betstation.com. The ice hockey betting scene is especially huge in Canada, the United States, and Russia.
Alpine Skiing & Snowboarding
Skiing, as we know it today, came about in Scandinavia. The sport was, once upon a time, used as transport, however, today is much more widely considered a recreational activity, or a competitive sport. It is considered an Olympic sport, and is one of numerous skiing events in the winter Olympics.
A more recent derivative of alpine skiing, is alpine snowboarding. In the 21st century, snowboarding has gained a massive amount of popularity among casual alpinists and pro-skiers alike. One of the main reasons for the sport’s increase in popularity in the current century is that it was added to the Winter Olympics in 1998, where it remains today.
Figure Skating
Figure skating is the most popular winter sport around the world. It holds the distinction of being the first winter sport to be included in the Olympics, where it has been since 1908, over a hundred years ago.
Ice skating has been around for centuries, however, the first recorded mention of skating comes to us from 1772, written by Robert Jones. Figure skating in the form that we know it today has its origins in the 19th century.
In the Olympics, figure skating is separated into four individual disciplines. Women’s singles, men’s singles, pair skating and ice dance. In 2014, a team event combining all four disciplines was included into the Winter Olympics.
Honorable Mentions
Apart from the ones mentioned in this list, there are quite a number of other winter sports enjoyed the world over. Ski jumping and Nordic skiing are two variants of skiing that are quite popular, though not on the level of Alpine skiing.