Winter sports in the United States

Winter sports in the United States are popular, both professionally and recreationally. Most of this activity takes place in the northern half of the country.

Popular winter sports in the United States include (from left to right, top to bottom) figure skating, ice hockey, skiing, and snowboarding

Sports

Curling

Once popular only in "the upper midwest and small pockets of New England", curling is gradually making inroads in the rest of the country.[1]

Figure skating
Main article: Figure skating in the United States

The governing body of figure skating in the United States is US Figure Skating,"U.S. Figure Skating is a member of the International Skating Union (ISU), the international federation for figure skating; and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC).

Ice skating used to be a popular television sport in the United States but has fallen out of favor since the 1970s, and the number of medals they have won at the winter Olympics has declined.

Ice hockey
Main article: Ice hockey in the United States

Twenty-four of the thirty-one National Hockey League teams are based in the United States, the other seven in Canada.

Skiing

Skiing remains a billion-dollar industry, but according to Snowsports Industry of America, its popularity peaked in the winter of 2010–11, with 11.5 million alpine skiers, and has declined since.[2]

Sledding

Historically the United States has not been a world power in bobsledding.[3] USA Bobsled are the governing body for bobsledding in the United States.[4][5]

Kaillie Humphries is one the most successful bobsledders for the United States.[6]

Snowboarding

Snowboarding was once a popular and trendy sport among the youth of America in the 1990s and 2000s, but has declined in popularity since the early 2010s due to the expense of the sport.[7][8][9][10][11]

Winter Olympics
Main article: United States at the Winter Olympics

The United States is a traditional powerhouse in the Winter Olympics.[12][13] However, the 2018 Winter Olympics saw the country's worst performance in terms of medals in 20 years.[14][15]

Participation

Winter sports are underrepresented by ethnic minorities due to the fact that such sports are expensive to play.[16][17][18][19][20][21]

Events
  • Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, an annual long-distance sled dog race run in early March from Anchorage to Nome, entirely in the state of Alaska

References
  1. "Puzzling yet popular, Americans are learning to love curling". Associated Press. February 16, 2018.
  2. Larry Olmsted (January 25, 2017). "Saving The Ski Industry: This Revolutionary Non-Profit Takes A New Approach". Forbes.
  3. "SLEDDING SPORTS / Bobsled best U.S. bet". SFGATE. February 9, 2006.
  4. "At Olympics, Holcomb still an inspiration for USA Bobsled". Toronto Star. February 15, 2022.
  5. Dave Sheinin (2022-02-20) [2022-02-19]. "U.S. bobsled's secret weapon: A mysterious 'genius' who sees things others don't". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 1330888409.
  6. Prewitt, Alex. "Kaillie Humphries, Elana Meyers Taylor Steer the Way for Women in Bobsled". Sports Illustrated.
  7. Higgins, Matt (March 6, 2016). "Snowboarding, Once a High-Flying Sport, Crashes to Earth". The New York Times.
  8. "Why snowboarding is fading in popularity". Nypost.com. January 23, 2015.
  9. "Snowboarding declining in stats, coolness". Denverpost.com. December 26, 2013.
  10. "Is snowboarding melting in popularity?". Ocregister.com. February 23, 2015.
  11. "Don't Believe the Hype: Youth Snowboarding is Thriving". Snowsports Industries America. March 6, 2018.
  12. Graham, Bryan Armen (25 February 2018). "USA fell short at the Winter Olympics and things could get worse". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  13. Doyle, Terrence (16 February 2018). "The U.S. Stunk At The Winter Olympics Until Extreme Sports Came Along". Fivethirtyeight.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  14. Steinberg, Leigh. "5 Reasons Tiny Norway Dominates The U.S. In Winter Olympic Medals". Forbes. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  15. Lauletta, Tyler. "The US team is falling apart at the Winter Olympics and on pace to have its worst medal performance in 2 decades". Business Insider. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  16. Prigeon • •, Jermell. "Bobsled Opening Doors for More Black Athletes to Live Winter Olympic Dreams".
  17. "United States seeing uptick in diversity for Winter Olympics team". USA TODAY Sports. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  18. Douglas, William (3 February 2018). "2018 Winter Olympics: Numbers show black athletes making inroads in winter sports". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  19. "Economic report" (PDF). /gzg764m8l73gtwxg366onn13-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com. 2018. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
  20. "Winter sports face a double threat, from climate and demographic change". Economist.com. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2019 – via The Economist.
  21. "Trying to make Team USA look more like America". The Washington Post. 2018-02-04. Retrieved 2019-07-17.


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