Why do we rarely see world records at the Winter Olympics?

There are a few reasons we don't tend to see as many records set at the Winter Olympics compared to the summer Games.

One of the explanations is the fact Winter Olympics venues and tracks are not identical in size and layout across the years.

Over the various editions of the Games, tracks and courses have been designed differently for the host venues.

This variation makes it difficult to get a consistent record time for speed.

For instance, the men's alpine downhill skiing at the 2026 Games is 2.14 miles long, whereas the 2022 course was just 1.96 miles.

This is also the case for other sports such as sled sports, snowboard and cross-country skiing.

However, short track and long track speed skating have all been contested over the same distance at every Winter Olympic venue and world championship over the years.

That consistency means that there are official Olympic and world records for these sports.

Norway's Sander Eitrem broke the Olympic record for the men's 5,000m speed skating at the 2026 Games.

Other sports are scored by judges, based on the skill and execution in a sport.

Figure skating is a judged sport, but does not have an upper limit to the scoring.

Since the 2018 Games, an International Skating Union (ISU) judging system has been used for Olympic records.

USA's Nathan Chen holds the men's single records, with the highest points in the short, free and combined events.

Athletes in the ski and snowboard big air events are given a score out of 100, marked across four broad categories: difficulty, execution, amplitude and landing, with extra points also available for progression - pulling off new unseen tricks that 'progress' the sport.

This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.

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