Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics

The Nordic combined
Nordic combined
The Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in both cross-country skiing and ski jumping.- History :While Norwegian soldiers are known to have been competing in Nordic skiing since the 19th century, the first major competition in Nordic combined was held in 1892 in Oslo at the...

events have been contested at the Winter Olympic Games
Winter Olympic Games
The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating...

since 1924

1924 Winter Olympics

The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France...

. The first competition involved 18 km cross-country skiing

Cross-country skiing

Cross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...

, followed by ski jumping

Ski jumping

Ski jumping is a sport in which skiers go down a take-off ramp, jump and attempt to land as far as possible down the hill below. In addition to the length of the jump, judges give points for style. The skis used for ski jumping are wide and long...

. Whoever earned the most points from both competitions won the event. At the 1952 Winter Olympics

1952 Winter Olympics

The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games, took place in Oslo, Norway, from 14 to 25 February 1952. Discussions about Oslo hosting the Winter Olympic Games began as early as 1935; the city wanted to host the 1948 Games, but World War II made that impossible...

, the ski jumping was held first, followed by 18 km cross-country skiing. The cross-country skiing portion was reduced to 15 km at the 1956 Winter Olympics

1956 Winter Olympics

The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. This celebration of the Games was held from 26 January to 5 February 1956. Cortina, which had originally been awarded the 1944 Winter Olympics, beat out...

. The ski jumping styles would change over the years as well, from the Kongsberger technique

Kongsberger technique

The Kongsberger technique in ski jumping was created in Kongsberg, Norway by Jacob Tullin Thams and Sigmund Ruud. The technique was developed after World War I, and was characterized by the upper body being bent at the hip, and arms extended at the front with the skis parallel to each other...

after World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

to the Daescher technique

Daescher technique

The Daescher technique is a ski jumping technique that was created by Andreas Daescher of Switzerland. This technique was created in the 1950s as a modification of the Kongsberger technique where the arms are placed backward toward the hips for a closer lean...

in the 1950s to the current V-style

V-style

The V-style of ski jumping was created by Miroslaw Graf, a Polish ski jumper from Szklarska Poreba. As early as 1969 Graf discovered the style as a kid, but later his colleagues were laughing at his jumps....

from 1985 onwards. The cross-country skiing technique would switch from classical to freestyle for all competitions beginning in 1985, but the biggest change would occur at the 1988 Winter Olympics

1988 Winter Olympics

The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in and around Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 13 to 28 February 1988. The host was selected in 1981 after having beat Falun, Sweden and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy...

in the scoring with the Gundersen method

Gundersen method

The Gundersen method is a method in the Nordic combined developed by Gunder Gundersen, a Nordic combined athlete from Norway, that was first used in the 1980s...

, meaning the 15 km cross country portion would go from an interval start

Time trial

In many racing sports an athlete will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. In cycling, for example, a time trial can be a single track cycling event, or an individual or team time trial on the road, and either or both of the latter may form components of...

race to a pursuit

Pursuit racing

Pursuit racing is where two or more competitors are either chasing after each other or chasing after a lead competitor or team.The modern pentathlon is formatted such that the final event, a cross-country run, is essentially a pursuit race. Athlete performance in the prior four events determines...

race, so that whoever crossed the finish line first won the event. The team event with a 3 x 10 km cross country relay started at the 1988 Winter Olympics, changing to the current 4 x 5 km cross-country relay at the 1998 Winter Olympics

1998 Winter Olympics

The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice...

. The 7.5 km sprint event was added at the 2002 Winter Olympics

2002 Winter Olympics

The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...

. Nordic combined remains a men's only event as of the 2010 Winter Olympics

2010 Winter Olympics

The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...

. For the 2010 Winter Games, the 15 km Individual Gundersen which consisted of 2 jumps from the normal hill followed by 15 km cross country will be replaced by a 10 km individual normal hill event which will consist of one jump from the individual normal hill following by 10 km of cross country using the Gundersen system while the 7.5 km sprint will be replaced by the 10 km individual large hill event.

Events

10 km individual normal hill	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	21
Team normal hill															•	•	•	•	•	•	•	7
10 km individual large hill																			•	•	•	3

Total events	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	3	3	3

Medal table

1	Norway	11	8	7	26
2	Finland	4	8	2	14
3	Austria	3	2	7	12
4	German Democratic Republic	3	0	4	7
5	France	2	1	1	4
6	West Germany	2	1	0	3
6	Japan	2	1	0	3
8	Germany	1	3	2	6
9	United States	1	3	0	4
10	Switzerland	1	2	1	4
11		1	0	1	2
12	Soviet Union	0	1	2	3
13	Sweden	0	1	1	2
14	Poland	0	0	1	1
	Russia	0	0	1	1
	Italy	0	0	1	1

Total		31	31	31	93