The feminine monobob
For the very first time in history, the Olympic Winter Games will host an individual bobsleigh event, the “monobob”. This format, reserved for women, has been tested twice in the past, in 2016 and in 2020, during the Youth Winter Olympics. Unlike the athletes in the men’s two-man bobsleigh and four-man bobsleigh events, the monobob athlete must do everything alone, in a boat that weighs at least 162 kilos. Twenty bobsledders will take part in the Olympic bobsledding event, including promising Canadians Cynthia Appiah and Christine de Bruin.
Mixed team ski jumping
The International Olympic Committee is multiplying mixed events this year, in search of parity between men and women. These Games include four new ones, including that of ski jumping by mixed teams. This event consists of setting off on skis as far as possible — and in style — after a descent propelling the athletes to more than 100 km/h. The running order of each team must follow the following pattern: woman, man, woman, man. It’s a safe bet that Germany will win the first Olympic title in this mixed event. This nation has won the last four titles at the last World Championships.
The mixed acrobatic jump
Unlike the majority of mixed events, the teams participating in the mixed aerials will not have the same number of men and women. Each team is made up of three skiers with at least one male and one female. The exact composition is left to the discretion of each country, which can choose to have two women and one man, or the reverse. The tricks performed by each skier are evaluated, and the sum of the scores determines the winner. Choosing two men and one woman is not necessarily a guarantee of success. Australia won two World Cup medals by making the opposite choice.
Mixed Relay Short Track Speed Skating
The mixed competitions will include for the first time this year the short track speed skating relay. The athletes will make two passes on the ice in the following order: women-women-men-men-women-women-men-men. Each team will do 18 laps of the track, for a total of 2000 meters. In this test, one competes against the other, and not against the clock. It is therefore not unusual to see medals being played out at the finish line. The entire competition will take place in just one hour on February 5th.
Mixed snowboard cross
Mixed team snowboard cross enters the Olympic roster after a decade of World Cup events. Each team consists of two snowboarders: a woman and a man. The latter is the first to set off on the course dotted with bumps and bends. When the first participant crosses the finish line, his lead time is transferred to his compatriot. The women then set off in the race, with the few seconds advantage gained by their teammate. The first woman to cross the finish line therefore allows her team to win honours.