This year's 22nd Winter Olympic Games in Sochi are the biggest yet, with 12 new events on both snow and ice. They include women's, men's and team competitions. Many of these are events have been a staple at other international competitions for some years now. All of them add something different to the games, and of course, an opportunity for certain atheletes to win more medals. Here's a list of a the new events and a brief description. 

Biathlon Mixed Relay 

19 nations are competing with four people per team, two men and two women. There are four leg relays, each comprised of both cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. Women race in the first two legs and the men compete in the last two. The whole event is held on a four kilometer loop. In each loop, each team member must complete two rounds of shooting. In each of these rounds, called bouts, the athletes must shot all five targets. If they fail to do so, a 150 metre penalty loop is imposed. Team are racing against the clock and the team with the fastest time wins. 

Halfpipe Skiing—Men's and Women's 

The halfpipe event has traditionally been a snowboarding competition, but now the skiers have the chance to show off their impressive skills and tricks in the Olympics. Like the snowboarders, their runs will be judged based on things like execution, variety, and difficulty. 30 men and 24 women will be competing in the event. Skiers have to go through the qualification phase and then the top 12 skiers make it to the finals. They each get two runs, and their run with the highest score counts. 

Women's Ski Jumping

It's finally time for the women to fly in the Winter Olympics. There are 30 competitors in this event and each athlete will be given two chances to speed down the hill, which stands at 756 kilometers. Skiers will be given points for distance and style. 

Figure Skating Team Event

Ten teams competed in this event. Each team consists of six athletes, four women and two men. There are four competitions, two singles and two pairs. All of the teams compete in the short dance portion of the event, and the best five teams move on to the next phase of the event, free skating. Athletes are judged on their technique and presentation. Teams are then also awarded points for their placement in each event. The sum of these placement points then total the team's score, and the team with the highest score wins. This event already took place in Sochi, and Russia took 1st place, followed by Canada in 2nd and the US in 3rd. 

Luge Team Relay

12 nations qualify for this event and it consists of one men's sled, one women's sled and a mixed sled. The mixed sled can be either all men, all women, or mixed. All three sleds race down the track one after another. The sleds can go down the track in any order and the team members touch a sensor pad at the bottom of the track once they have crossed the finish line to open the start gate for their next team member. The clock stops running once the last sled has crossed the finish line and the team with the fastest time takes home the gold. 

Snowboard Parallel Slalom—Men's and Women's 

32 men and 32 women wil race down the hill two at a time down parallel courses. The courses are equipped with gates and flags. Athletes have to go though the qualification to make it to the finals. They each get two runs, one on each side of the course. The loser of the first run has to begin the second run with the time disadvantage of the first run. The first one to cross the finish line of the second run wins. 

Ski Slopestyle—Men's and Women's 

Thirty men and 24 women will compete in this event that combines tricks and air. There are two phases, with two runs per phase. Each skier's best run counts and the top 12 athletes make it to the final. Skiers are judged on elements such as execution, variety, difficulty, risk, progression and style. The judges scores are averaged and the highest score wins. 

Snowboard Slopestyle—Men's and Women's

This event is similar to the skiing slopestyle event. They also combine tricks, rails, and air. 30 men and 24 women qualified for this year's winter games. They each get two runs for each phase of the event. The boarders are judged on variety, execution, style, amplitude, difficulty and landing. The highest scoring run in the final takes the gold. 

Reach Staff Writer Giulia Sagramoso here.