Ski Jumping

Jumping off hills on skis was pioneered by Norwegian Sondre Norheim in the 19th century, and had developed into a full sport by the 20th century. It has been contested in the Olympic Winter Games since the start in 1924. Originally dominated by participants from Norway, the top competitors now also hail from Finland and Central Europe. Two athletes, Simon Ammann and Matti Nykänen, have won four gold medals in the sport, with Nykänen the only ski jumper with five Olympic medals. The sport is governed internationally by the Fédération international de ski (FIS), which had 132 members as of 2020. The FIS also governs Alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, Nordic combined, and snowboarding.

In 2009, women began competing at World Championships, and women’s ski jumping débuted at the Winter Olympics in 2014. There are two types of hills used, a normal hill and a large hill. Three men’s events are currently contested at the Olympics – a normal hill event, a large hill event, and a team event; while woman currently have only an individual normal hill competition. The exact size of the hills, most commonly measured by the distance of the calculation point (or K-point), has gradually increased. In 1924, the normal hill K-point was still at 71 m; in 2010 it was at 95 m, while the large hill was at 125 m.