21.   Unloading on a metal ramp in snow is a whole new winter sport.

22.   With no major sponsor or Olympic participation in decades, the ragged look of skeleton racers has made them stepchildren among traditional winter sliding sports.

23.   All the Canadian-based teams have been eliminated from the NHL playoffs, and basketball is the only remaining winter sport in town.

24.   Australian Rules football is the most popular winter sport here.

25.   Biathlon is a winter Olympic sport combining cross country skiing and shooting.

26.   But the International Olympic Committee said it would not qualify because the discipline, known as futsal, is not a winter sport.

27.   But that other winter sport, basketball, was invented by a Canadian.

28.   But the IOC said the game known as futsal does not qualify because it is not a winter sport.

29.   Nagano organizers are scheduled to report to the board Thursday and meet with the association of winter Olympic sports on Friday.

30.   No British athlete has won a World Cup title in any other winter sport, let alone three times.