The physics of the Winter Olympics
Short Wave
NPR
4.7 • 6.5K Ratings
🗓️ 10 February 2026
⏱️ 13 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
That’s why this episode, we have two physicists – Amy Pope, a physicist from Clemson University and host Regina G. Barber – break down the science at play across some of the sports at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Because what’s a sport without a little friction, lift and conservation of energy? They also get into the new sport this year, ski mountaineering - or “skimo” as many call it - and the recent scandal involving the men’s ski jump suits.
Interested in more science behind Olympic sports? Check out our episodes on how extreme G-forces affect Olympic bobsledders, the physics of figure skating and the science behind Simone Biles' Olympic gold.
Also, we’d love to know what science questions have you stumped. Email us your questions at shortwave@npr.org – we may solve it for you on a future episode!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. |
| 0:05.6 | Okay, everyone, show of hands. |
| 0:07.3 | Who's watching the Winter Olympics? |
| 0:10.0 | Okay, this is a podcast so I can't actually see you all, |
| 0:13.0 | but I'm definitely gluing myself to the TV as much as possible these next few weeks. |
| 0:17.7 | Next, we travel to Italy where Olympic competition is already underway in Milan. |
| 0:22.4 | For the first time in three decades, the Winter Olympics will feature an entirely new sport when they officially kick off this Friday. |
| 0:28.9 | Even though that's thousands of miles from the U.S., many on Team USA are very familiar. |
| 0:33.8 | And as I watched the curling, the figure skating, the snowboarding, the skiing, really every single one of these sports, I can't help but think it's all physics. |
| 0:43.5 | Ski jumping is my current favorite, but I'm really hopeful for ski mountaineering this year. I think I may fall in love with that sport. |
| 0:52.6 | That's physicist Amy Pope. |
| 0:56.7 | She's a principal lecturer at Clemson University. |
| 1:01.1 | And for the past six years, she's been teaching a class called the Physics of Sports. |
| 1:05.4 | She got the idea for the class in the middle of a Clemson football team meeting. |
| 1:12.7 | I'm sitting in the back of the room and I'm listening to everything that's going on. And'm understanding all the words but not the strategy, not why it's important. And I realized that that's probably what |
| 1:18.7 | most people feel whenever they listen to me explain physics. So Amy thought, why not change up |
| 1:24.7 | her approach? Teach a class that starts with sports, explained by physics. |
| 1:30.5 | I say, you already know a lot of physics. You've practiced it. You've thrown a ball before. You already |
| 1:36.0 | know the physics. So now we're just going to figure out the why behind it. |
| 1:40.6 | So today on the show, we're learning the why behind the Winter Olympics. |
| 1:45.2 | What fundamental physics principles are at work when a skier jumps or when a sled goes down a mountain? |
| 1:51.8 | And how these world-class athletes are using physics to their advantage. |
... |
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