The 2026 Winter Olympics are in full swing and offer dozens of different seasonal sports that align with hundreds of professional athletes worldwide. However, with the variety of winter sports, there are some outliers that claim title to being some of the weirdest out there for being professional sports featured in the Olympics. The top three most odd or unique sports that take the cake include, Curling, Skimo, and Skeleton.
Curling is a doubles sport in the Winter Olympics that involves two people, a 40 pound block, and a lot of frantic sweeping. It is basically a high stakes game of “Chess on Ice.” The results for this game so far is that Sweden took gold in a literal last-second finisher. Team USA takes home a historic silver medal.
Skimo is the newest sport on the block. Imagine running up a mountain with skis on your back, then clicking them in to race back down. It’s exhausting just to watch. The results aren’t posted yet, but the Swiss and Italians are the most competitive ones in the mountain.
Skeleton involves diving head-first down a frozen waterslide at 80 mph on a board that looks like a lunch tray. It’s terrifying, but the custom-painted helmets are cool. Results are not posted yet but training kicked off recently with the Netherlands’ Kimberley Bos looking like the favorite for the women’s heats starting soon.
Photo Credit: www.ibsf.org/en/news/detail/almost-100-years-since-its-premiere-mens-skeleton-preview-for-the-milano-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
