The Sports of the 2018 Alberta Winter Games

Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. There will be 10 competitors per zone with five girls and five boys with a total of 80 athletes competing in three different events. Athletes aged 12-13 will compete in Slalom, Giant Slalom and Dual Slalom.

 

Archery is the art, practice or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow. For the Alberta Winter Games, the archers are shooting indoors, which means a 40cm target at 18m. There will be eight athletes per zone with four girls and four boys. Athletes aged 12-17 will compete in the Recurve and Compound events.

 

Gymnastics is one of the oldest Olympic sports and was first practiced at the ancient Olympic Games. Today, women compete in four events - Vault, Uneven Bars, Balance Beam and Floor Exercise; and men compete in six – Floor Exercise, Pommel Horse, Rings, Parallel Bars, Vault and High Bar. The Alberta Games will host the four female events. Athletes aged 10-17 will compete in three different age groups.

 

Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players (singles) or two opposing pairs (doubles), who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court divided by a net. It has been an Olympic sport since 1992 and requires excellent aerobic stamina and agility. Athletes aged 17 and under will make up each zone team to compete in singles, doubles and mixed double tournaments.

 

Biathlon combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. This sport originated from a Norwegian military exercise and was contested at the Olympic Winter Games in 1924. There will be 12 competitors per zone with a total of 96 athletes. Athletes aged 11-16 will compete in three different groups.

 

Boxing is an Olympic and Commonwealth sport and is a common fixture in most of the major international games – it also has its own World Championships. It is supervised by a referee over a series of one-to-three-minute intervals called rounds. There will be six athletes per zone with a total of 48 athletes. Athletes aged 13-16 will compete in different age categories based on their weight.

 

Cross-country skiing is Canada’s optimal winter sport with more than one million Canadians participating annually. The sport has been contested at the Winter Olympic Games since its first competition in Chamonix, France in 1924. There will be 16 athletes per zone with a total of 128 athletes. Athletes aged 11-16 will compete in three different events – Sprint, Skate and Relay. The younger athletes will ski up to a 2.5-km course and the older athletes will ski up to a 5-km course.

 

Curling is a sport played with teams sliding stones on a sheet of ice towards a target area, which is segmented into four concentric circles. The curling surface (“The Sheet”) is usually around 150 feet long by about 15 feet wide. Players will play “Mixed Doubles” with one female and one male. This format was first used at the 2014 Alberta Winter Games. There will be two teams per zone with a total of 32 athletes. Athletes aged 12-16 years will compete in four pools of four teams.

 

Fencing is a sport of fighting with swords. The sport of fencing is one of five sports, which has been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games. The sport is divided into three weapon categories – Foil, Sabre and Épée. There will be eight zones with a total of 48 athletes. Athletes aged 12-17 will compete in the same three categories.

 

Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, duos and/or groups compete by skating on ice. The Olympic disciplines are singles, pair skating and ice dancing. There will be eight zones with a total of 64 athletes. Athletes aged 11-16 will compete in the Star 5 U13, Juvenile U14, Pre-Novice and Novice Divisions.

 

Ice hockey is played on a large flat area of ice using a three-inch-diameter rubber disc called a puck. There will be six zone team with each consisting of 20 female athletes and five coaches per zone with a total of 120 athletes. The athletes competing are from All-Star Teams chosen during selection camps held across the province in each zone.

 

Freestyle made its Olympic debut as a demonstration sport in Calgary in 1988. Moguls was accepted as an official medal sport in 1992, and Aerials followed in 1994. Alberta Games athletes are aged 11-15 and will compete in Mogal and Slopestyle events. They will do two runs the best of two will count for the final ranking. Each Zone will send eight athletes (two females and six males) for a total of 64 athletes.

 

Judo - meaning “gentle way” – is a modern martial art, combat and Olympic sport created in Japan in 1882. The objective is to either throw or takedown an opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue an opponent with a pin. There will be 15 Judo athletes per zone with six females and nine males for a total of 120 athletes. Athletes will compete in competitive groups or weight classes. (Girls have six different classes and the boys have nine.)

 

Ice hockey is played on a large flat area of ice using a three-inch-diameter rubber disc called a puck. There will 20 male athletes and five coaches per zone with a total of 160 athletes. The athletes competing are from All-Star Teams chosen during selection camps held across the province in each zone. This will be the largest sport at the 2018 Alberta Winter Games. 

 

Ringette is a team sport played on ice surface using straight sticks to control a rubber ring. The sport uses the speed of hockey and the skill of basketball. Ringette was invented in Northern Ontario in 1963.

Each zone will have 17 athletes for a total of 136 athletes. Athletes aged 16 years and under will compete starting with a Round Robin on the first game day at the Anzac Recreation Centre. The Gold Medal Game will be played at the Frank Lacroix Arena in Fort McMurray on February 19.

 

Snowboarding is a recreational activity and Olympic and Paralympic sport that involves descending a snow-covered slope while standing on a snowboard attached to a rider’s feet. There will be eight competitors per eight zones with two females and six males per team and three coaches of one female and two males.

 

Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating, in which the competitors race one another in traveling a certain distance on skates. Speed skating in the Alberta Winter Games has a great legacy of Olympic athletes. There will be 12 athletes aged 11-14 competing in two different age groups with a total of 96 athletes.

 

Squash is a racquet sport played by two players (singles) or four players (doubles) in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball. The players must alternate in striking the ball with their racquet and hit the ball onto the playable surfaces of the court. There will be eight zones with a total of 40 athletes. Athletes aged 11-16 will compete in a seeding round before moving on the Playoffs and the Medal rounds.

 

Synchronized swimming is a form of swimming, dance and gymnastics, which consists of swimmers performing in a synchronized routine of elaborate moves in the water and accompanied by music. There will be eight athletes per zone for a total of 64 athletes. Athletes aged 11-15 will complete in the Team and Duet events.

 

Volleyball is a team sport with two teams of six players, which are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team’s court under organized rules. There will be 12 athletes per zone for a total of 192 athletes. Athletes aged 17 and under will complete in the Round Robin on February 17 with the Gold Metal matches for males and females taking place on February 19.

 

Wrestling is a sport of physical competition between two competitors who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position. Wrestling at the Alberta Games is the second largest sport. There will be 18 athletes per zone for a total of 152 athletes. Athletes aged 13-15 will compete with eight females and 11 male wrestlers.

 

*Please note: The province is split into eight zones of competitors in the Alberta Winter Games.