Factbox on freestyle skiing ahead of the February 10-26 Turin Winter Olympics:

HISTORY

Freestyle, originally a mixture of Alpine skiing and acrobatics, developed in the United States in the 1960s. The first official competition was held in Attitash, New Hampshire, in 1966. The International Ski Federation (FIS) recognized the sport in 1979 and the following year a World Cup series was organized. The first world championships were held in Tignes, France, in 1986.

Freestyle skiing's three disciplines -- moguls, aerials and ballet -- were included as demonstration events in the 1988 Calgary Olympics. Moguls became a medals sport at the 1992 Games and aerials achieved the same status in 1994 but ballet is not part of the Olympics.

EVENTS

Men and women will compete in moguls and aerials.

In moguls, skiers race down a slope over large, uniform bumps called moguls, from an Austrian dialect word for mound.

The length of the run is between 220 and 250 meters with a constant slope of 26 to 30 degrees. The course also has two jumps and skiers must perform aerial maneuvers which are judged for height, distance, landing, execution and degree of difficulty.

Jumps have colorful names such as backscratcher, helicopter, daffy and mule kick.

Technique accounts for 50 percent of the marks, jumps for 25 percent. The remaining 25 percent is based on each skier's time. Moguls competitions are accompanied by loud music.

The 16 best competitors from an elimination round go into the final.

In aerials, competitors perform combinations of flips and twists off snow-packed jumps as high as four meters. Skiers often fly 18 meters above the ground.

A panel of judges score the competitors for height and distance, worth 20 percent of the marks, execution and precision -- worth 50 percent -- and landing, worth 30 percent. The landing area is covered in soft snow to absorb the impact of dropping from a height equivalent to a three-storey building.

Twelve competitors advance to the final after a two-jump elimination round. Each takes two jumps in the final.

2002 CHAMPIONS

Men's moguls: Janne Lahtela (Finland)

Men's aerials: Ales Valenta (Czech Republic)

Women's moguls: Kari Traa (Norway)

Women's aerials: Alisa Camplin (Australia)

OLYMPIC PROGRAMME

February 11 Women's moguls

February 15 Men's moguls

February 19 Women's aerial qualification

February 20 Men's aerial qualification

February 22 Women's aerial finals

February 23 Men's aerials finals

VENUE

Sauze d'Oulx. The resort stands at an altitude of 1,509 meters in Val di Susa, around 80 km from Turin.

WATCH OUT FOR...

American Eric Bergoust, the 1998 men's aerials champion, who is an outsider to win again at the age of 36. Bergoust was the favorite again in Salt Lake City in 2002 but ended up last in the final after a bad stumble on the landing of his final jump.

Xu Nannan, aerials silver medallist at the 1998 Games in Nagano, is among the favorites as part of a strong Chinese women's aerial team. Yang Yang won China's first Winter Olympic gold in the women's short track speed skating in 2002.