Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International Ski Federation (FIS).
Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first ever Winter Olympics in 1924, while the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup has been held since 1983. Many Nordic combined competitions use the Gundersen method, where placement in the ski jumping segment results in time (dis)advantages added to the contestant's total in the cross-country skiing segment.
Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the final score. Ski jumping was first contested in Norway in the late 19th century, and later spread through Europe and North America in the early 20th century. Along with cross-country skiing, it constitutes the traditional group of Nordic skiing disciplines.
Freestyle skiing is a skiing discipline comprising aerials, moguls, cross, half-pipe, slopestyle and big air as part of the Winter Olympics. It can consist of a skier performing aerial flips and spins and can include skiers sliding rails and boxes on their skis. Known as "hot-dogging" in the early 1970s, it is also commonly referred to as freeskiing, jibbing, as well as many other names, around the world.
Simon Ammann is a Swiss ski jumper. He is one of the most successful athletes in the history of the sport, having won four individual Winter Olympic gold medals in 2002 and 2010. His other achievements include winning the 2007 Ski Jumping World Championships, the 2010 Ski Flying World Championships, the 2010 Nordic Tournament, and the 2010 Ski Jumping World Cup overall title.
Michael David Edwards, better known as Eddie the Eagle, is an English ski jumper and Olympian who in 1988 became the first competitor to represent Great Britain in Olympic ski jumping, finishing last in the Normal Hill and Large Hill events. He held the British ski jumping record from 1988 to 2001. He also took part in amateur speed skiing, running at 106.8 km/h (66.4 mph), and became a stunt jumping world record holder for jumping over 6 buses.
Janne Petteri Ahonen is a Finnish former ski jumper and drag racer. He competed in ski jumping between 1992 and 2018, and is one of the sport's most successful athletes of all time, as well as one of the most successful from Finland. Ahonen won two consecutive World Cup overall titles, the Four Hills Tournament a record five times, two individual gold medals at the World Championships, and the Nordic Tournament once. Nicknamed Kuningaskotka, he has been described as the greatest ski jumper to have never won an individual medal at the Winter Olympics.
Thomas Morgenstern is an Austrian former ski jumper who competed from 2002 to 2014. He is one of the most successful ski jumpers of all time, having won the World Cup overall title twice with 23 individual wins, the Four Hills Tournament and the Nordic Tournament once each, eight World Championship gold medals, and three Winter Olympic gold medals.
The FIS Ski Flying World Championships is a ski flying event organised by the International Ski Federation and held every two years. The event takes place on hills much larger than ski jumping hills, with the K-point set between 185 metres (607 ft) and 200 m (660 ft). Unlike ordinary ski jumping, the Ski Flying World Champion is determined after four jumps. 40 jumpers qualify for the competition and jump the first round, 10 are eliminated, and the 30 remaining jumpers compete in the last three rounds. The person with most points combined after four jumps is declared the World Champion. In 2004, the FIS introduced a team event between national teams of four jumpers, with two jumps each.
Ski flying is a winter sport discipline derived from ski jumping, in which much greater distances can be achieved. It is a form of competitive individual Nordic skiing where athletes descend at high speed along a specially designed takeoff ramp using skis only; jump from the end of it with as much power as they can generate; then glide – or 'fly' – as far as possible down a steeply sloped hill; and ultimately land within a target zone in a stable manner. Points are awarded for distance and stylistic merit by five judges. Events are governed by the International Ski Federation.
Noriaki Kasai is a Japanese ski jumper. His career achievements include a gold medal at the 1992 Ski Flying World Championships, winning the 1999 Nordic Tournament, individual silver medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and two individual bronze medals at the 2003 Ski Jumping World Championships.
Ski jumping has been included in the program of every Winter Olympic Games. From 1924 through to 1956, the competition involved jumping from one hill whose length varied from each edition of the games to the next.
Anders Bardal is a Norwegian former ski jumper.
The Große Olympiaschanze is a ski jumping hill located on the Gudiberg, south of the district of Partenkirchen of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, Germany, and is traditionally the venue of the Four Hills Tournament's New Year's jumping.
Kamil Wiktor Stoch is a Polish ski jumper. He is one of the most successful ski jumpers in the history of the sport, having won two World Cup titles, three Four Hills Tournaments, three individual gold medals at the Winter Olympics, individual and team gold at the Ski Jumping World Championships, and individual silver at the Ski Flying World Championships. His other tournament wins include Raw Air (twice), the Willingen Five, and Planica7.
Sara Takanashi is a Japanese ski jumper. She is one of the most successful female ski jumpers to date, as well as one of the most successful athletes in the history of the sport, having won four World Cup overall titles, seven World Championship medals, and a Winter Olympic medal. As of July 2023, Takanashi holds the record for the most individual World Cup wins, male or female, with 63. She also has three Guinness World Records certificates for the most podium finishes in the Ski Jumping World Cup, the most individual victories by a female in the Ski Jumping World Cup, and the most Ski Jumping World Cup individual victories in a career (overall).
Ski jumping at the 2014 Winter Olympics was held at the RusSki Gorki Jumping Center, Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. The events were held between 8 and 17 February 2014. Women competed in ski jumping for the first time in the history of Winter Olympic Games. A total of four ski jumping events were held.
Andreas Wellinger is a German ski jumper. His career-best achievements include winning an individual gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics, individual silver at the 2018 Winter Olympics, mixed team gold at the 2017 Ski Jumping World Championships, and team silver at the 2016 Ski Flying World Championships. Wellinger's best finish in the World Cup overall standings is fourth, in the 2016/17 season.
Stefan Kraft is an Austrian ski jumper. He is one of the most successful contemporary ski jumpers, having won the Ski Jumping World Cup and Ski Flying World Cup overall titles two and three times respectively, the Four Hills Tournament once and Raw Air Tournament twice, and three individual gold medals at the World Championships. Since March 2017, he has held the ski flying world record of 253.5 metres (832 ft).
