Lillehammer 2016 Debuts the New

(ATR) From the solitary ride of the monobob to the hustle and bustle of the Nordic mixed team event, eight new medal events debut at the Lillehammer 2016 Youth Olympic Games.

Organizers have enlivened the schedule for the second edition of the Winter YOG, adding adrenaline-fueled races and more opportunities for athletes to interact.

First out of the gate on Saturday: Cross-Country Cross Free for men and women.

The event is very similar to the Sprint, except the competition course features several technical elements such as jumps and turns to test the skier's abilities. Cross-country cross free events are skied in free technique: the skis are prepared with only glide wax and forward motion is created by using the edges of the skis, also called skating.

The event starts with individual time trials with a 10- to 30-second interval start. The fastest 30 competitors advance to three semifinals, then the top two finishers in each semifinal heat and the next four fastest competitors advance to the final.

The other events are:

Snowboard Cross for men and women

Four snowboarders race against each other on a specially designed natural terrain course fitted with artificial features including turns, roller sections and jumps.

In the qualification, competitors take one or two timed runs, with the best one counting. The top 16 go through to the finals where they will be divided into heats of four competitors. There are 20 group heats in the "round robin" format. All competitors eventually compete against each other and, based upon the ranking of each heat, are awarded points. After the group heats, the top eight ranked competitors advance to the semifinals. The top two ranked competitors from each advance to the big final, while the remaining competitors move to the small final.

Team Ski - Snowboard Cross Mixed Team Event

Each of the 16 teams will have four members running in the following order: female snowboarder, female skier, male snowboarder, male skier.

The quarterfinals, semifinals, big final and small final are divided into heats of up to four teams. Each team member will have one run. For the second, third and fourth starters in a team, the starting gate will automatically open when their teammate crosses the finish line. If a competitor cannot finish or finishes in a time exceeding the penalty time, the gate will open when the penalty time is reached.

The top two teams from each heat advance to the next phase.

Ski Slopestyle for men and women

This judged freestyle event is held in a terrain park. Athletes perform their own tricks, spins and flips while traversing a course with a variety of hits, jumps, rails, tables, big-airs, etc., with two or more lines they may choose to perform.

The competition consists only of a final, with results calculated on the best of three runs. The competitors will be judged on a combination of amplitude, technical difficulty, creativity and landings.

Monobob for men and women

Replacing the two-person bobsled, the monobob requires the pilot to also be the brakeman at speeds up to 130 km per hour.

Rather than having teams enjoy a technical advantage due to better sleds, these sleds are identical and are distributed by random draw. Four individual runners are then selected by the athletes to make a set. These runners will be used for the duration of the event.

There are two heats and the times are combined, with the lowest aggregrate time winning.

At least six training heats are held over three days. Pilots must have completed at least two valid practice heats without incident to qualify for the competition.

Speed skating Mixed NOC Team Sprint

Fourteen teams are expected to take part in the event with each team consisting of two men and two women from different NOCs.

Two teams per heat compete against each other over four laps, with each athlete skating one lap.

Only one competition lane (corresponding to the inner lane for individual races) is used. The two teams in each race start and finish in the middle of the finishing and the crossing straights, respectively.

The team with the best time wins the competition; there is no elimination phase.

Nordic Mixed Team Event

This event not only mixes genders, but also the sports of ski jumping, cross country and Nordic combined.

Twenty teams are expected to participate. Teams are made up on five athletes from the same NOC; one male and one female cross-country skier, one male and one female ski Jumper, and one male Nordic combined athlete.

The event consists of one trial and one scored ski jump on the normal hill for three team members (female ski jumper, male Nordic Combined athlete, male ski jumper), and a 3 x 3.3km cross-country relay free technique race for three team members (female cross-country skier, male Nordic combined athlete, male cross-country skier).

The ski jumping results are converted into time differences to establish the cross-country starting order.

Biathlon Single Mixed Relay

A team is made up of one woman and one man from the same NOC, with each skiing twice in the order woman-man-woman-man. The distance covered by the female athlete will be 2 x 3km, while the male athlete will ski 3km in the first leg and 4.5km in the second.

A simultaneous start will be used. Biathletes ski using the free technique, and then shoot a small-bore rifle -- 22 calibre (5.6mm) -- alternating between the prone and standing positions. Target size varies depending on the shooting position. Athletes have two shooting bouts, first prone and then standing. The biathletes take one round at each of the five targets and have three extra shots per shooting bout. Each missed shot incurs one 75-metre penalty loop to be skied after the shooting is completed.

The team crossing the line first wins.

Written by Karen Rosenin Lillehammer

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