What's new in Beijing: Freeski big air, monobob join Winter Olympics program

There will be seven new events at the Beijing Winter Olympics — men's and women's freeski big air, women's monobob and four mixed-gender team events intended to improve gender balance at the Games. About 45% of the athletes in Beijing will be women, a Winter Olympics record.

Here's what to expect from each new event.

Climb up a 160-foot tall tower, hurtle down a 250-foot slope on skis, launch off a ramp and do a series of flying acrobatic moves before attempting to land cleanly and coast to the bottom of the hill. That's freeski big air. It's the newest freestyle skiing event at the Olympics, following on the success of snowboard big air at the Pyeongchang Games in 2018. Unlike freeski halfpipe, big air skiers have only one jump to attempt tricks that are graded on each run down the slope.

How it works: Competitors are graded on a 100-point scale, with emphasis on difficulty, execution, height of jump, clean landing and the combination of tricks on the jump.

When: Women's qualifying runs are Feb. 6 from 7:30-9 p.m. on USA Network with medal runs starting Feb. 7 at 8 p.m. on Ch. 11. Men's qualifiers start Feb. 6 at 11:30 p.m. with final qualifying runs Feb. 7 at 1 a.m. on USA Network. Medal runs start Feb. 8 at 9 p.m. on Ch. 11.

Who's competing: There are 30 women's and 31 men's skiers doing three qualifying runs each, with each competitor's best run counting and the top 12 moving on to three final runs. Scores from each skier's two best runs in the finals are added together to determine the medalists.

Who's the favorite: Among the men, Birk Ruud of Norway has been a staple atop the World Cup standings since the event started in 2017. Alexander Hall of the United States — who has described the sport as like diving off a cliff — had the second-highest score at the 2022 World Cup event in Steamboat Springs, Colo. Matej Svancer of Austria was first.

Switzerland figures to be a major player in the women's event with Giulia Tanno, Mathilde Gremaud and Sarah Hoefflin representing the country. Gremaud recently took first at the Aspen X Games in Big Air and finished second in the 2020 World Cup big air standings. Tanno was first in the World Cup standings in 2020 and 2021. At the Steamboat Springs event in January, France's Tess Ledeux took first place, topping Hoefflin.

Take your standard two-person bobsled, remove a person, and you have the monobob. The sport has been in the Winter Youth Olympic Games since 2016 for both genders, but with the men having two bobsled events at the 2022 Games, the Olympic Committee decided to add women's monobob as a standalone to increase representation. In Beijing there will be the two-man, two-woman, four-man and women's monobob events in bobsled.

How it works: In a standard bobsled team, multiple athletes share the roles of pushing the sled, driving and braking throughout the race course. The monobob athlete is solo and in complete control of the sled. To even the playing field, rather than customized sleds for each team, women use the same 7½-foot-long sled that weighs no more than 542 pounds, including the athlete. Standings are determined by the total time in four runs over two days.

When: The first two runs are Feb. 12 at 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. (Ch. 11), with the last two runs Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. (Ch. 11).

Who's competing: There are 20 drivers from 16 nations participating. One of the goals of the Olympic Committee was to increase not only women's participation but national representation.

Who's the favorite: Americans Kaillie Humphries and Elana Meyers Taylor are veteran bobsledders with several Olympic medals in other disciplines. Taylor finished first in the 2021-2022 Women's Monobob World Series — which consisted of aggregate scores from 24 races around the world — while Humphries finished second. Canadians Cynthia Appiah and Christine De Bruin finished third and fourth. Humphries and Meyers Taylor were resistant to the inclusion of monobob at the Olympics, believing it was better to add a four-woman sled event to include more female racers.

With four mixed-gender team events added to these Games, there will be nine such events in Beijing. Here's a breakdown of what's new:

Mixed team short track relay: The relay teams will comprise two men and two women from each country; participants had to qualify in an individual event to be included in the mixed relay. In the 2,000-meter race covering 18 laps, each skater does two legs of the relay, with the women going first, followed by the men, and then the order is repeated. The first leg for each skater is 2½ laps; the second is two laps. It will be the first short-track medal event of the Olympics, debuting Saturday with quarterfinals at 6:23 a.m., semifinals at 6:53 a.m. and the medal race at 7:26 a.m. The event will be streamed live on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com, and replayed on USA Network at 1 p.m.

Mixed team ski jumping: Teams of two men and two women will compete on the normal hill, jumping in woman-man-woman-man order for two rounds. The top eight teams from the first round advance to the second. Mixed team ski jumping has been at the Youth Winter Olympics since 2012, and will debut in Beijing on Feb. 7 at 4:30 a.m., with a replay on USA Network at 10 a.m.

Mixed team freestyle skiing aerials: The mixed aerial teams will feature three skiers, and countries will be able to choose between having two men and one woman or two women and one man to execute aerial tricks with combined scores determining winners. The final is Feb. 10 at 5 a.m. on USA Network.

Mixed team snowboard cross: The first mixed event in snowboarding will feature one man and one woman from each country. Combined times from the men's race and the women's race determine team winners. Races will be Feb. 11 at 8 p.m. (Ch. 11).