Sports added to 2014 Olympic lineup

DURBAN, South Africa, July 4 (UPI) -- The Winter Olympics in 2014 in Russia will include ski and snowboard slopestyle and snowboard slalom events, the International Olympic Committee said Monday.

Slopestyle events involve difficult tricks as part of the runs. The 2014 Games will have slopestyle events for men and women. The snowboard parallel special slalom will also be contested by both men and women.

The IOC previously added men's and women's halfpipe, women's ski jumping, biathlon mixed relay, figure skating team event and luge team relay to the list of sports for the Sochi Games.

"We are very pleased with the addition of ski and snowboard slopestyle and snowboard special slalom in the Olympic Winter Games program," said IOC President Jacques Rogge. "Such events provide great entertainment for the spectators and add further youthful appeal to our already action-packed lineup of Olympic winter sports."

The IOC Executive Board also released a shortlist of sports to be considered for inclusion in the sports program of the 2020 Olympiad. The sports are: baseball, karate, roller sports, softball, sports climbing, squash, wakeboard and wushu.

The announcements were made in South Africa when the IOC Executive Board is meeting. The agenda includes Wednesday's announcement of the site of the 2018 Winter Games. Candidate cites are Annecy, France; Munich, Germany; and Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The XXII Olympics Winter Games will be contested Feb. 7-23, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.