The Winter Olympic Games only comes around every four years, but it is becoming increasingly popular, and sports which are not usually of interest can become popular for just that short period of time.

Here is some data on American TV viewing during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, which provides interesting information about the transient popularity of some of these sports. See more on the most popular sport in the US, and also the most popular Winter Olympic Games sports.

Popular Winter Olympics Sports - TV versus Online

Freestyle skiing was the most popular Olympic sport among U.S. TV viewers in 2010.

Most Viewed Olympic Sports (through 15 Feb 2010)

Rank Sport Avg. # of Viewers
1 Freestyle Skiing 26,928,346
2 Downhill Skiing 26,689,344
3 Luge 26,157,455
4 Snowboarding 25,469,008
5 Figure Skating 25,448,801
6 Speed Skating 22,557,252

Most Viewed Olympic Sports (Feb 9-18, 2010)

Skiing was the most popular Winter Olympic sport on TV, but online it was very different, with figure skating third behind ice hockey and luge. Another analysis of Internet buzz from February 9th to 18th shows that ice hockey was the most discussed Olympic sport online.

Rank Sport Buzz %
1 Ice Hockey 31
2 Luge 18
3 Figure Skating 10
4 Curling 9
5 Speed Skating 8
6 Snowboarding 5