Freestyle 

Put into circulation on 27 December 2001

Design: S.Zaskevich (Belarus)
Minted by: CJSC "Lithuanian Mint", Vilnius, Lithuania

  • Silver, Alloy standard of silver: 925
  • Denomination: 20 rubles
  • Weight of coin, g: 33.62
  • Fine silver content, g: 31.1
  • Quality: "proof"
  • Diameter, mm: 38.61
  • Mintage, pcs.: 2,000

The coins are round. The rim is raised on both sides of the coin. The edge of the coin is corrugated.

Obverse

within the circular geometric ornament – the relief of the State Coat of Arms of the Republic of Belarus; beneath – year of issue; inscriptions along the rim – at the top: "РЭСПУБЛIКА–БЕЛАРУСЬ" (REPUBLIC OF BELARUS), at the bottom: "ДВАЦЦАЦЬ РУБЛЁЎ" (TWENTY ROUBLES) on the silver coin and "АД3IН РУБЕЛЬ" (ONE ROUBLE) on the copper–nickel coin.

Reverse

in the center – the conventionalized effigy of 2 jumping freestylers; inscriptions along the rim – at the top: "ФРЫСТАЙЛ" (FREESTYLE), at the bottom: АЛИМПIЙСКIЯ ГУЛЬНI" (OLIMPIC GAMES) and "2002".

Freestyle skiing is a type of skiing included in the program of the Winter Olympic Games. Freestyle disciplines are big air, ski acrobatics, mogul, ski cross, halfpipe, slopestyle. New school style is also commonly referred to as freestyle. Ski ballet[1] - one of the freestyle disciplines that existed until 1999, was excluded from the programs of official competitions.


Organizationally, freestyle is one of the skiing sports in which competitions are held under the auspices of the International Ski Federation.


At the Freestyle World Championships, the top seven teams in the rankings are Canada, USA, France, China, Switzerland, Russia and Norway.

Freestyle skiing is a relatively new winter sport, dating back to the 1950s. Before this, freestyle was a mountain show in the form of a ski ballet, intended to entertain the vacationing public and generate income. In 1926, the first book entirely dedicated to ski ballet appeared in Germany. Its author was skier and mountaineer Dr. Fritz Ruel.


Freestyle as a sport originally emerged as a mixture of alpine skiing and acrobatics. The first freestyle competition was held in Attitash, New Hampshire in 1966.[2]


The Freestyle World Cup has been played since 1978. In 1986, the first World Championship was held in Tignes, France[3].


At the Winter Olympics, freestyle was first presented as a demonstration performance in 1988, at the XV Winter Olympics in Calgary. The first Olympic medals in freestyle skiing (men's and women's moguls) were awarded at the next Winter Olympics in Albertville. In subsequent years, the Olympic program of freestyle disciplines expanded:


In 1994, ski acrobatics was added in Lillehammer;

Cross-country skiing, debuted in Vancouver in 2010;

In 2014, halfpipe and slopestyle were added to the program of the Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Thus, today the Olympic disciplines of freestyle are ski acrobatics, moguls, ski cross, halfpipe and slopestyle and big air.


Freestyle appeared in the USSR in the 1970s. On July 1, 1985, the freestyle skiing department of the USSR Sports Committee was created[4]. The first all-Union freestyle competitions took place in February 1986, in the vicinity of the village of Gorki. In 1987, the first international exhibition competitions with the participation of USSR athletes were held in Dombay, when the US and Canadian teams came to visit the Soviet athletes. In 1988, the independent USSR Freestyle Federation was created.