- The 2022 Winter Olympics begin this week in Beijing.
- From skating and skiing to snowboarding and luge, there are plenty of exciting events on the docket.
- Here are the most popular Winter Olympic sports in each US state, per Upgraded Points.
The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing is here.
Athletes from around the world have made their way to China to represent their countries and compete on sports' biggest stage. From figure skating and downhill skiing to freestyle snowboarding, luge, and curling, an impressive array of action-packed sports are on the docket.
And all across America, fans will surely tune in to watch their favorite events that only come around once every four years. But which ones will they choose?
Using search volume data based on Google Trends results over the past five years, the team at Upgraded Points sought to determine which sports at the Winter Olympics are most popular in the United States. The answers vary by state — and even within specific regions of the country — but illuminate viewer interests heading into the games.
Overall, nearly half the nation's states showed a preference for figure skating. Luge was next, with nine states searching for the event more than any other at the games. And ice hockey — the only Winter Olympic sport with a US-based major professional league — took bronze with four states.
Curling, meanwhile, narrowly missed the podium with three states despite emerging as a cult favorite in recent years. Alpine skiing, cross country skiing, and ski jump rounded out the top seven.
Somewhat surprisingly, freestyling skiing and snowboarding each earned the favor of only a single state, as did biathlon, bobsled, skeleton, and short track speed skating.
You can check out the results on the full map, and broken down by individual state, below:
