By Wren Mcilroy
The 2010 Winter Olympics will be held February 12-28 in Vancouver, Canada. The 2010 games will include 86 sports events from bobsled, luge, and skeleton to speed skating and alpine and Nordic ski events. Many new events were proposed to be included in Vancouver but were ultimately rejected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Some of the best events missing from the Winter Olympics include the women's ski jumping, bandy, the archery biathlon and skijoring.
Women's Ski Jumping
By far the most controversial event left out of the 2010 Olympics, women's ski jumping will not be included on the basis that there are not enough female participants around the world for it to deserve inclusion. Ski jumping is one of only a handful of Olympic events that do not have both female and male competitions. The sport was left out despite many protests and lawsuits claiming discrimination by women ski jumpers.
Bandy
Bandy is basically a form of field hockey played on ice. It's played in many countries by teams of 11 and uses a ball instead of a puck. Bandy was an exhibition sport in the 1952 Olympic Winter Games in Oslo, Norway, and is currently recognized by the IOC but is still waiting to be accepted into the Games. In order for that to happen, a sport must demonstrate that at least 25 nations on three continents practice the sport.
Archery Biathlon
The archery biathlon or ski archery is another event that will be missing for in 2010. The archery biathlon is similar to the rifle biathlon event that has been included in the Winter Olympics since 1960 and involves a combination of cross-country skiing with target archery. Ski archers must set up a recognized governing body before petitioning the IOC for inclusion in the next Winter Olympics.
Skijoring
Skijoring combines cross-country skiing with dog sledding and is widely popular in Canada and some parts of the United States. Skijoring made its debut as an exhibition event in the Winter Olympics in 1928 but never received full-time status. The International Federation for Sleddog Sports is working with the IOC to get its sport recognized, so maybe we will see skijoring in the 2014 Olympics in Russia.
The Best Winter Sports Missing from the Olympics was originally published on Trails.com.
About this Author
Based out of Salt Lake City, Wren Mcilroy has been writing outdoor recreation and travel-related articles for 3 years. She holds a Bachelor of Science in psychology and biology from Winona State University in Minnesota
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