New tricks, new countries, new records at the Beijing Olympics.

Sure, medal counts are an important measure of success at the Olympics. But how about skiing for a country that has no snow?

It’s one of the many notable Olympic firsts happening in Beijing this year. Expect more men and women competing side by side, new flips and tricks on the slopes and a group of record-setting Olympians who haven’t hung up their skis or skates quite yet.

No snow? No problem.

Haiti and Saudi Arabia will make their Winter Olympics debuts with Alpine skiing. Richardson Viano of Haiti and Fayik Abdi of Saudi Arabia will ski in the giant slalom. Viano, 19, was adopted from Haiti in 2005 by an Italian couple and has lived in France since he was 3. Abdi, 24, learned to ski in Lebanon when he was 4, and has trained in Utah since 2012. They compete on Feb. 13.

Milestones will test the endurance of a number of Winter Olympians.

At 49, the German speedskater Claudia Pechstein will become the oldest woman to compete at a Winter Olympics. (She turns 50 just two days after the closing ceremony.) Pechstein has nine Olympic speedskating medals — five gold, two silver and two bronze. She skates on Feb. 5.

There are a number of record-making appearances: Sarah Schleper of Mexico will become the third athlete and the first woman to compete in six Olympics in Alpine skiing. John Shuster of the United States and Torger Nergaard of Norway will become the first athletes to compete in five Olympic curling events. Martins Dukurs and Tomass Dukurs, a pair of brothers from Latvia heading into their fifth Olympic Games, will be the most experienced skeleton athletes — a distinction that will also be shared by Katie Uhlaender of the United States. Lee Chae-won, a cross-country skier, will become the first female athlete from South Korea to appear in six Winter Games.

And the most exclusive club at the Games — athletes who have competed in both the Winter and the Summer Games — will gain a new member. Montell Douglas of Britain will compete in the two-woman bobsled. Douglas made her Summer Olympics debut in 2008, also in Beijing, in the 4×100 meter relay. She is the first British woman to compete in both versions of the Games.

New events, new tricks, new teams.

The Beijing Games will feature 109 events across 15 disciplines. These are the events being featured for the first time in 98 years:

• Mixed team ski jumping: Ski jumping dates back to the original 1924 Winter Games, and in this event, at least two men and two women will be eligible per country, jumping in a woman-man-woman-man sequence. Jumps are evaluated by distance and style.

• Freeski big air: In this X Games favorite, male and female athletes will launch off a ramp and complete a series of gravity-defying tricks. Competitors are judged on the skill and form required of their tricks as well as by the height and distance of each jump.

• Mixed team aerials in freestyle skiing: Three-person teams in this event include at least one man and one woman (with the third spot left up to the country). The competition is all about team strategy, technique and creativity in the air.

• Mixed team snowboard cross: Male athletes will compete in sets of four; once each man crosses the finish line, a female teammate’s starting gate will open and that teammate will compete on the same course. The first woman to cross the line wins for her team.

• Short-track team relay: Two male and two female speedskaters relay man-woman-man-woman for a total of 2,000 meters over 18 laps.

• Monobob: A single athlete navigates the sled route. Instead of customized sleds, every athlete uses the same standardized sled. The event is restricted to women.

Looking ahead to 2026.

The International Olympics added an eighth sport for the Milano Cortina Games: ski mountaineering, which involves skiing and hiking through mountain terrain. The Winter torch will be passed to the Italians at the end of the Beijing Games.