The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee has approved four new events for the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Snowboard big air, an alpine team event, mass start speedskating and mixed doubles in curling will be part of the program in three years. All four events will be for men and women.
To make room for the new snowboard event, the IOC has eliminated the snowboard parallel slalom for both men and women.
According to the IOC, the new events will allow for more female athletes to take part in the Winter Games. The changes, particularly the snowboard big air, reflect the IOC's goal to become somewhat more youth oriented.
The snowboard big air features boarders flying off a pitched ramp, performing spins and flips.
As for the alpine team event, it will be similar to those in World Cup skiing where teams of two men and two women participate in parallel slalom races.
Curling has only had men's and women's titles since the sport's return to Olympic competition in 1998.
[SportsNetwork.com]
