text: why are indoor sports, like gymnastics, in the summer olympics and not the winter olympics?   winter olympic sports involve things like ice, snow, or both.  hockey, skying (distance jump, slalom, and cross-country), and figure skating need either one of the two. gymnastics does not need ice or snow, and it does not need cold weather to be practiced.  besides, the hosting nations and the international olympic committee make more money by having two olympic sporting events every two years instead of just one big event every four years.