This paper exploits nationalistic biases in Olympic winter sport judging to study the problem of designing a decision making process that uses the input of potentially biased agents. Judges score athletes from their own countries higher than other judges do, and they appear to vary their biases strategically in response to the stakes, the scrutiny given the event, and the degree of subjectivene...

BACKGROUND Nordic combined (NC) is an Olympic winter-sport performed as a ski jumping (SJ) event followed by a cross-country (XC) pursuit race employing the skating style. PURPOSE To elucidate the associations between sport-specific laboratory capacities and SJ, XC skiing, and overall NC performance in a world-cup NC event. METHODS Twelve international world-cup NC athletes from 8 nations p...

Witnessing an injured skier being airlifted by helicopter from a winter ski resort is an unforgettable event, reminding us of the risks of snow-based winter sports, particularly alpine skiing. The world’s media attention for the ski accident suffered by Michael Schumacher for example, illustrated a collective concern for the safety of ski areas (Allen, 2014), showing how even the slightest inat...

This article introduces/rationalizes an attempt to conceptualize “environmental sports journalism (ESJ).” ESJ refers a set of principles for analyzing and/or reporting on media coverage sport-related environmental issues—principles intended support/promote dialogue and nuanced thinking about these issues how might contribute environmentally friendly just outcomes. To clarify features explore be...

The ski industry is often perceived as having a negative impact on sensitive alpine and subalpine communities. However, empirical evidence of such impacts is lacking. We reviewed the available literature from the last 35 years to quantify the reported effects of winter recreation on faunal communities. Overall, using one-sample binomial tests ('sign tests') we found that the effects of all type...

INTRODUCTION Spinal protective devices are a recent addition to the protective equipment worn by competitive and recreational alpine skiers and snowboarders. Their rate of use is not documented at the time of publication. The objective of this study was to examine the current attitudes and recommendations of Canadian alpine ski racing coaches towards spinal protective devices. METHODS A conve...

The purpose of the present review was to: 1) provide an overview of the current understanding on the epidemiology, etiology, risk factors, and prevention methods for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in alpine ski racing; and 2) provide an overview of what is known pertaining to ACL reinjury and return to sport after ACL injury in alpine ski racing. Given that most of the scientific studi...

The Olympian ideal of going faster, jumping further and leaping higher than the opposition is central to competitive sports. Winning or losing in sport is related to a number of factors, and biomechanics, anthropometrics, and aerodynamics play a major role in many sports. This lecture focuses on ski jumping. Performance in ski jumping is determined not only by the motor abilities of the athlete...