Ski Jumping

Facts

Discipline of Skiing
Participants 985
NOCs 39
Competitions held 54 (Venues)
Distinct events 11
IF International Ski & Snowboard Federation

Description

Jumping off hills on skis was pioneered by Norwegian Sondre Norheim in the 19th century, and the activity had developed into a full sport by the 20th century. It has been contested at 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.

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. Women currently have only an individual normal hill competition, and a mixed normal hill team event débuted at Beijing 2022.

Two athletes – Simon Ammann (SUI) and Matti Nykänen (FIN) – have won four gold medals in the sport. Nykänen is the only ski jumper with five Olympic medals. On the women’s side, three ski jumpers – Slovenians Urša Bogataj and Nika Križnar, and German Katharina Althaus – have won two Olympic medals, but Bogataj is the only one with two titles.

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 71 metres; in 2010, it was at 95 metres, while the large hill was at 125 metres. The sport is governed internationally by the Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS), which had 136 member nations as of 2022. The FIS also governs Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, Nordic combined, and snowboarding.

All-time medal table

Olympic Games

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
Norway NOR 12 10 14 36
Finland FIN 10 8 4 22
Austria AUT 7 10 10 27
Germany GER 7 7 4 18
Japan JPN 4 6 4 14
Poland POL 4 3 3 10
Switzerland SUI 4 1 0 5
East Germany GDR 2 3 2 7
Slovenia SLO 2 2 3 7
Czechoslovakia TCH 1 2 4 7
Soviet Union URS 1 0 0 1
Sweden SWE 0 1 1 2
Yugoslavia YUG 0 1 1 2
ROC ROC 0 1 0 1
Canada CAN 0 0 1 1
France FRA 0 0 1 1
United States USA 0 0 1 1

Youth Olympic Games

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
Slovenia SLO 4 2 1 7
Austria AUT 2 0 2 4
Germany GER 1 2 1 4
Japan JPN 1 1 1 3
Russian Federation RUS 1 1 0 2
Norway NOR 0 2 0 2
France FRA 0 1 1 2
Canada CAN 0 0 1 1
Czechia CZE 0 0 1 1
Italy ITA 0 0 1 1

Most successful competitors

Olympic Games

Athlete Nat Gold Silver Bronze Total
Matti Nykänen FIN 4 1 0 5
Simon Ammann SUI 4 0 0 4
Jens Weißflog GDR
GER
3 1 0 4
Thomas Morgenstern AUT 3 1 0 4
Kamil Stoch POL 3 0 1 4
Andreas Wellinger GER 2 2 0 4
Birger Ruud NOR 2 1 0 3
Kazuyoshi Funaki JPN 2 1 0 3
Andreas Kofler AUT 2 1 0 3
Toni Nieminen FIN 2 0 1 3

Youth Olympic Games

Athlete Nat Gold Silver Bronze Total
Ema Klinec SLO 2 0 0 2
Marco Wörgötter AUT 2 0 0 2
Bor Pavlovčič SLO 2 0 0 2
Katharina Althaus GER 1 1 0 2
Anže Lanišek SLO 1 1 0 2
Andreas Wellinger GER 1 0 0 1
Sara Takanashi JPN 1 0 0 1
Vid Vrhovnik SLO 1 0 0 1
Lisa-Marie Hirner AUT 1 0 0 1
Stefan Rettenegger AUT 1 0 0 1
Anna Shpynyova RUS 1 0 0 1
Julia Mühlbacher AUT 1 0 0 1
Tom Lubitz GER 1 0 0 1

Event types

Name Gender Still contested? Times held?
Normal Hill, Individual Men 16
Large Hill, Individual Men 24
Large Hill, Team Men 10
Normal Hill, Individual Women 3
Normal Hill, Team Mixed 1
Medium Hill, Individual Boys 1
Normal Hill, Individual Boys 2
Medium Hill, Individual Girls 1
Normal Hill, Individual Girls 2
Medium Hill, Team Mixed Youth 1
Normal Hill, Team Mixed Youth 2