1.
Sea level
Mean sea level is an average level of the surface of one or more of Earths oceans from which heights such as elevations may be measured. A common and relatively straightforward mean sea-level standard is the midpoint between a low and mean high tide at a particular location. Sea levels can be affected by factors and are known to have varied greatly over geological time scales. The careful measurement of variations in MSL can offer insights into ongoing climate change, the term above sea level generally refers to above mean sea level. Precise determination of a sea level is a difficult problem because of the many factors that affect sea level. Sea level varies quite a lot on several scales of time and this is because the sea is in constant motion, affected by the tides, atmospheric pressure, local gravitational differences, salinity and so forth. The easiest way this may be calculated is by selecting a location and calculating the mean sea level at that point, for example, a period of 19 years of hourly level observations may be averaged and used to determine the mean sea level at some measurement point.
One measures the values of MSL in respect to the land, hence a change in MSL can result from a real change in sea level, or from a change in the height of the land on which the tide gauge operates. In the UK, the Ordnance Datum is the sea level measured at Newlyn in Cornwall between 1915 and 1921. Prior to 1921, the datum was MSL at the Victoria Dock, in Hong Kong, mPD is a surveying term meaning metres above Principal Datum and refers to height of 1. 230m below the average sea level. In France, the Marégraphe in Marseilles measures continuously the sea level since 1883 and it is used for a part of continental Europe and main part of Africa as official sea level. Elsewhere in Europe vertical elevation references are made to the Amsterdam Peil elevation, satellite altimeters have been making precise measurements of sea level since the launch of TOPEX/Poseidon in 1992. A joint mission of NASA and CNES, TOPEX/Poseidon was followed by Jason-1 in 2001, height above mean sea level is the elevation or altitude of an object, relative to the average sea level datum.
It is used in aviation, where some heights are recorded and reported with respect to sea level, and in the atmospheric sciences. An alternative is to base height measurements on an ellipsoid of the entire Earth, in aviation, the ellipsoid known as World Geodetic System 84 is increasingly used to define heights, differences up to 100 metres exist between this ellipsoid height and mean tidal height. The alternative is to use a vertical datum such as NAVD88. When referring to geographic features such as mountains on a topographic map, the elevation of a mountain denotes the highest point or summit and is typically illustrated as a small circle on a topographic map with the AMSL height shown in metres, feet or both. In the rare case that a location is below sea level, for one such case, see Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
2.
Marcel Hirscher
Marcel Hirscher is an Austrian World Cup alpine ski racer. Hirscher made his World Cup debut in March 2007, at the 2010 Winter Olympics, Hirscher placed fourth in the giant slalom and fifth in the slalom at Whistler Creekside. He placed fourth in the giant slalom at the 2009 World Championships, but broke his ankle the weekend preceding the 2011 World Championships, which ended his 2011 season. Returning after injury, Hirscher had his best season to date in terms of wins in 2012 with 9 victories and he won the World Cup overall and giant slalom titles, and placed third in the slalom. In October 2012, Hirscher was awarded the Skieur dOr Award by members of the International Association of Ski Journalists for his performances during the previous season. Hirscher won the overall World Cup title again in 2013 with 6 victories, Hirscher scored a total of 18 podium finishes out of 19 races in the two technical events. The only race in either slalom or giant slalom where he finished outside the top 3 was the giant slalom in Adelboden.
In 2015 Hirscher dominated the giant slalom standings with 5 wins, including a margin of 3.28 seconds in Garmisch. With his slalom win in Zagreb he became the most successful Austrian male World Cup slalom skier surpassing Benjamin Raich. In the final race of the season in Meribel he overturned a 55-point deficit in the standings by winning his 16th World Cup slalom, Hirscher became the first male alpine skier to win the overall World Cup title four times in a row. In 2016 Hirscher became the most successful Austrian male World Cup GS skier by winning in Beaver Creek, surpassing Benjamin Raich, with his GS win in Alta Badia, Italy, he became Austrias most successful World Cup GS skier overtaking Annemarie Moser-Pröll. Another GS win in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia confirmed Hirscher as the GS title winner with one race to go. To wrap up a season with 8 wins and 19 podiums Hirscher won the mens overall World Cup title, his 5th consecutive overall title. His points total enabled Austria to narrowly beat France in the nations cup by 201 points.
Hirscher was the only Austrian male skier to win a race in the entire season, in 2017 Hirscher won the first slalom of the season on 13 November in Levi and equalled Pirmin Zurbriggens win total of 40, putting him equal 5th in the standings. He achieved his 93rd podium, surpassing Benjamin Raichs total, on 7 January Hirscher achieved his 100th podium from 191 starts with a 2nd place finish in the giant slalom in Adelboden. On 29 January Hirscher won the GS in Garmisch, achieving his 20th GS and 43rd World Cup win, and with it attained Austrias 100th GS win for men. At the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2017 in St. Moritz, Switzerland Hirscher won gold in the GS and slalom and he was the most successful athlete at the championships
3.
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of Croatia. It is located in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately 122 m above sea level. In the last official census of 2011 the population of the City of Zagreb was 792,875, the wider Zagreb metropolitan area includes the City of Zagreb and the separate Zagreb County bringing the total metropolitan area population up to 1,237,887. It is the biggest metropolitan area in Croatia, and the one with a population of over one million. Zagreb is a city with a history dating from the Roman times to the present day. The oldest settlement located in the vicinity of the city was the Roman Andautonia, the name Zagreb is recorded in 1134, in reference to the foundation of the settlement at Kaptol in 1094. Zagreb became a royal town in 1242. In 1851 Zagreb had its first mayor, Janko Kamauf, and in 1945 it was made the capital of Croatia when the demographic boom, the city extends over 30 kilometres east-west and around 20 kilometres north-south.
The transport connections, concentration of industry and research institutions, Zagreb is the seat of the central government, administrative bodies, and almost all government ministries. Almost all of the largest Croatian companies and scientific institutions have their headquarters in the city and it is a city known for its diverse economy, high quality of living, museums and entertainment events. Its main branches of economy are high-tech industries and the service sector, the etymology of the name Zagreb is unclear. It was used of the city only from 1852, but it had been in use as the name of the Zagreb dioecese since the 12th century. The name is first recorded in a charter by Ostrogon archbishop Felician, dated 1134, the older form of the name is Zagrab, the modern Croatian form Zagreb is first recorded in a 1689 map by Nicolas Sanson. An even older form is reflected in Hungarian Zabrag, for this, Desy proposes the etymology of Chabrag, a well-attested hypocorism of the name Cyprian. The same form is reflected in a number of Hungarian toponyms, the name Agram was used in German in the Habsburg period, this name has been classified as probably of Roman origin but according to Desy it could be an Austrian German reanalysis of *Zugram.
In Middle Latin and Modern Latin, Zagreb is known as Agranum, in Croatian folk etymology, the name of the city has been derived from either the verb za-grab-, meaning to scoop or to dig. One folk legend illustrating this derivation ties the name to a drought of the early 14th century, in another legend, a city governor is thirsty and orders a girl named Manda to scoop water from Manduševac well, using the imperative, Mando. The oldest settlement located near todays Zagreb was a Roman town of Andautonia, now Šćitarjevo and Kaptol were united in 1851 by ban Josip Jelačić, who was credited for this, with the naming the main city square, Ban Jelačić Square in his honour
4.
Sweden
Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities.
Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
5.
Olympiapark (Munich)
The Olympiapark München in Munich, Germany, is an Olympic Park which was constructed for the 1972 Summer Olympics. Located in the Oberwiesenfeld neighborhood of Munich, the Park continues to serve as a venue for cultural, the Park is administered by Olympiapark München GmbH, a holding company fully owned by the state capital of Munich. Also in this area are the Aquatic Center and Olympic Event Hall, Olympic Village, comprising two villages, one male and one female. Olympia-Pressestadt, today the home of the Olympic Shopping Center, strictly speaking, this portion belongs to the area of district of Moosach. Olympic Park, Adjoining the Olympic Area to the south, this includes the Olympic Mountain. The park is located in the Milbertshofen-Am Hart borough near BMW Group headquarters, Georg-Brauchle-Ring divides the area into two halves, Olympic Village and Olympia Pressestadt to the north and Olympic Area and Olympic Park to the south. After the International Olympic Committee in 1966 awarded Munich the Olympic Games, up until 1939, Oberwiesenfeld had largely been used as an airfield, the then-recently opened Munich-Riem airport left the Oberwiesenfeld area largely idle.
Under Nazi plans for the development of Munich into the Capital of the Movement, the Second World War, hindered the implementation of this plan. In October 1957, since the US Army had facilities at the Oberwiesefeld, apart from infrastructure projects such as the Oberwiesenfeld Ice Rink, Oberwiesenfeld remained largely vacant, and as such was an ideal place for the construction of the Olympic Stadium. The concept of a green Olympic Games was chosen, and so too was the orientation toward the ideals of democracy. Officials sought to integrate optimism toward the future with an attitude toward technology. The architecture firm of Günther Behnisch and its partners developed a master plan for the sports and recreation area. The landscape layout was designed by landscape architect Günther Grzimek, the eye-catching tensile structure that covers much of the park was designed by German architect and engineer Frei Otto with Günther Behnisch. In all, the project cost 1.35 billion German Marks to complete, using public transportation, the Munich U-Bahns U3 line provides a direct route, From Münchner Freiheit, the line connects to Olympiapark via Schwabing and the midtown area.
In 2007, the U3 line was extended to continue on to Oberwiesenfeld station at the end of the Olympic Village. The continuation to Moosach, where the line connects to the S1 S-Bahn line, was completed in 2010, olympiazentrum U-Bahn station is a central stop for the MVG bus line. Between 1972 and 1988 the Olympiastadion Station existed, which was oft-snubbed at events, the station is abandoned continues to decay. The Olympiapark is accessible by car via Mittlerer Ring motorway, the Olympic Village itself is closed off from car traffic
6.
Slalom skiing
Slalom is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline, involving skiing between poles or gates. These are spaced more closely than those in giant slalom, super giant slalom and downhill, the sport is contested at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, and at the Olympic Winter Games. The term may refer to waterskiing on one ski. The word slalom is from the Morgedal/Seljord dialect of Norwegian slalåm, meaning slightly inclining hillside, the inventors of modern skiing classified their trails according to their difficulty. Slalåm was a used in Telemark by boys and girls not yet able to try themselves on the more challenging runs. Ufsilåm was a trail with one obstacle like a jump, a fence, a turn, a gorge. Uvyrdslåm was a trail with several obstacles, a Norwegian military downhill competition in 1767 included racing downhill among trees without falling or breaking skis. Sondre Norheim and other skiers from Telemark practiced uvyrdslåm or disrespectful/reckless downhill where they raced downhill in difficult, the 1866 ski race in Oslo was a combined cross-country and slalom competition.
In the slalom participants were allowed use poles for braking and steering, during the late 1800s Norwegian skiers participated in all branches often with the same pair of skis. Slalom and variants of slalom were often referred to as hill races, around 1900 hill races are abandoned in the Oslo championships at Huseby and Holmenkollen. Mathias Zdarskys development of the Lilienfeld binding helped change hill races into a specialty of the Alps region, the rules for the modern slalom were developed by Arnold Lunn in 1922 for the British National Ski Championships, and adopted for alpine skiing at the 1936 Winter Olympics. A course is constructed by laying out a series of gates, formed by alternating pairs of red, the skier must pass between the two poles forming the gate, with the tips of both skis and the skiers feet passing between the poles. A course has 55 to 75 gates for men and 40 to 60 for women, the vertical drop for a mens course is 180 to 220 m and slightly less for women. The gates are arranged in a variety of configurations to challenge the competitor, because the offsets are relatively small in slalom, ski racers take a fairly direct line and often knock the poles out of the way as they pass, which is known as blocking.
In modern slalom, a variety of equipment is used such as shin pads, hand guards, helmets. Traditionally, bamboo poles were used for gates, the rigidity of which forced skiers to maneuver their entire body around each gate. The early 1980s, rigid poles were replaced by hard plastic poles, hinged at the base with a universal joint designed and patented by Peter Laehy and Stefan Dag in Aspen, CO. USA. The hinged gates require, according to FIS rules, only that the skis, by 1989 most of the top technical skiers in the world had adopted the cross-block technique
7.
Mario Matt
Mario Matt is an Austrian former World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. Born in Flirsch, Matt made his World Cup debut in December 1999 and he claimed 15 World Cup victories,14 in slalom and one super combined. Matt is a world champion in slalom, with titles in 2001 and 2007. With a remarkably long career as a top racer, he is the oldest to win an Olympic gold medal in alpine skiing. Matt has the third longest time interval between first and last World Cup victories, after Ingemar Stenmark and Didier Cuche, Matt announced his retirement from ski racing on March 12,2015. 15 wins –42 podiums – Matt is the brother of skicross competitor Andreas Matt and fellow alpine skier Michael Matt. Mario Matt at the International Ski Federation FIS-Ski. com – World Cup season standings – Mario Matt Ski-db. com – results – Mario Matt Mario Matt at Sports Reference – Olympic results Official website
8.
Julien Lizeroux
Julien Lizeroux is a French World Cup alpine ski racer. In the past, he had competed in giant slalom. Born in Moûtiers, Lizeroux is a member of Douanes-La Plagne and he made his World Cup debut in 2000 and has three World Cup victories, all in slalom. Lizeroux won silver medals in the combined and the slalom on home snow at the 2009 World Championships in Val dIsère. He finished 9th in the slalom and 18th in the combined of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. A problematic right knee hampered his performance during the first half of 2011 season, surgery in June 2011 caused Lizeroux to miss the 2012 season. He returned for the 2014 season, without much success, the following three seasons were more successful, with several finishes in the top ten. In 2015 he got into world news for a mistake in a slalom race
9.
Racing
In sport, racing is a competition of speed, against an objective criterion, usually a clock or to a specific point. The competitors in a try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goal, a race may be run continuously from start to finish or may be made of several segments called heats, stages or legs. A heat is run over the same course at different times. A stage is a section of a much longer course or a time trial. Early records of races are evident on pottery from ancient Greece, a chariot race is described in Homers Iliad. The word race comes from a Norse word and this Norse word arrived in France during the invading of Normandy and gave the word raz which means swift water in Brittany, as in a mill race, it can be found in Pointe du Raz, and raz-de-marée. The word race to mean a contest of speed was first recorded in the 1510s, a race and its name are often associated with the place of origin, the means of transport and the distance of the race.
As a couple of examples, see the Dakar Rally or the Athens Marathon. Running a distance is the most basic form of racing, but races may be conducted in vehicles, such as boats, cars and aircraft, or with animals such as horses or dogs. Races may be conducted with other modes of such as skis, skates or wheelchair. In a relay race members of a team take turns in racing parts of a circuit or performing a certain racing form, orienteering races add an additional task of using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain. A race can involve any type of goal like eating. A common race involving eating is a hot dog eating race, Racing can be done in more humoristic and entertaining ways such as the Sausage Race, the Red Bull Trolley Grand Prix and wok racing. Racing can be entertained from around the world, a sprint finish is a racing tactic used in many forms of racing where a competitor accelerates towards top speed in the final stages of a race. The tactic relies upon keeping greater energy reserves than your opponent until the last part of the race in order to be able to reach the finish point first and it is the opposing tactic to keeping a steady optimal pace throughout a race to maximise your energy efficiency.
In track and field, distances from 1500 metres upwards often feature sprint finishes and they can be found in cross country and road running events, even up to the marathon distance. A runners ability to sprint at the end of a race is known as their finishing kick
10.
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lille, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established.
The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity.
In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
Mario Matt
Ivica Kostelić
Jean-Baptiste Grange
Giuliano Razzoli
André Myhrer
Felix Neureuther
Sebastian Foss Solevåg
Tanja Poutiainen
Kristina Koznick
Šárka Záhrobská
Veronika Zuzulová
Tina Maze
Erin Mielzynski
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