Ski Jumping

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.