When the 21^st Winter Olympics get underway in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on February 12, 2010, a new event will be on the official program: skicross. A timed racing event, skicross does to skiing what motocross did for motor-biking. The ski course consists of a wide variety of artificial and naturally occurring terrain, including jumps, rollers and banks, thereby making it more challenging and acrobatic than traditional skiing.

The Olympics you sit down to watch this year obviously won’t be the same ones the Swedish envisioned when they held the first Nordic Games (the precursor to the Winter Olympics) in 1901. Skicross, however, isn’t the only event that is giving them a modern look and feel. In fact, you might be surprised to learn that many of the current official competitions have either been around for less than 20 years, or took a long hiatus and were reintroduced with the past 20 years. Which ones?

1. Curling – Added in 1998, this sport is a curious and entertaining one to watch. It consists of teams in which one person hurls a stone across the ice while his or her teammates sweep the surface with brooms in an effort to get the stone to land where they want it on the target.
2. Freestyle skiing ­– Part of the Winter Olympics since 1992, this event paved the way for skicross since it incorporates skicross elements in conjunction with moguls and aerials.
3. Short track speed skating – An official event since 1992, this sport is the sprint version of ice speed skating.
4. Skeleton – This competition is “a fast winter sliding sport in which an individual person rides a small sled down a frozen track while lying face down, during which athletes experience forces up to 5Gs,” according to Wikipedia. Also known as tobogganing, skeleton was reintroduced to the Winter Olympics in 2002.
5. Snowboarding – An official event since 1998, this event consists of the parallel giant slalom, the half-pipe and the snowboard cross.

Clearly, the Olympic Committee doesn’t allow the competition to stagnate. Every four years, it re-evaluates what events should be included. Your own exercise regime should be regularly re-assessed in the same way. Add something fresh and new and enjoy renewed invigoration and motivation.

What is the next big sport to make the Olympic cut? Only time will tell. Motivated by this year’s Olympians, perhaps you’ll be among the first to discover it.