There are several different team sports played in the Olympic games. Sports in the summer Olympics include soccer, field hockey and basketball. Some winter Olympic sports include ice hockey, curling and bobsleigh. Team sports in Olympic competition can share some commonalities but also some drastic differences.
Background
A team sport is any sport that features multiple participants working toward a common goal, and competition between teams. Although the Olympics include many sports with team-only competition such as ice hockey and basketball, there are several individual sports that have team events. For example, figure skating is considered an individual sport, but ice dancing and pairs figure skating requires teams of two. Another example would be rowing. There are individual rowing events in the Olympics and also events that feature teams of two, four and eight rowers.
Types of Team Sports
There are a few different types of team sports in the Olympic games. There are the sports such as field hockey, ice hockey and basketball that require one ball or puck and players directly working with each other by moving the ball towards a goal or net. There are relay team sports often found in swimming and running events. An example would be the 4 x 100 m relay in athletics, a race that requires each runner to sprint 100 m before passing a baton to the next runner. There are two-person sports that require only two participants per team. These sports include two-man rowing events, pairs figure skating, ice dancing and two-man bobsleigh. There are also sports that have more than one member but no direct teamwork involved. One example is the team competition in artistic gymnastics that determines a winner by adding up the scores of each team's individual athletes.
Venues
There are only four team sports played inside at the Winter Olympics: pairs figure skating or ice dancing, ice hockey, curling and team events for short-track or long-track speed skating. Team sports played indoors on courts during the summer Olympics include volleyball and basketball. Additional sports played inside during the Summer Olympics include water polo, team gymnastic events and team swimming events.
Winners and Notable Achievements
The 1992 Men's American Olympic Basketball team, often referred to as the "Dream Team," featured NBA superstars such as Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, Magic Johnson and David Robinson. In 1989 the FIBA decided to allow professional players to participate in the Olympics making a team of this caliber and skill level possible. This team went 8-0 in the tournament and won the gold medal in Barcelona, Spain.
The 2002 Canadian Men's Ice Hockey team featured NHL superstars such as Mario Lemieux, Joe Sakic and Jarome Iginla. At the time, Canada had not won an Olympic gold medal in men's ice hockey since 1952. Despite dropping the first game 5-2 to Sweden, Canada rebounded to eventually defeat the United States, which had never lost an Olympic hockey game on home soil, in the gold medal game in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean received the maximum number of 6.0 marks, the highest possible score, from all nine judges for artistic impression in the 1984 Olympic ice dancing competition.
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