Nordic Combined Skiing at the Winter Olympics

Nordic Combined Skiing at the Winter Olympics: Nordic combined is a skiing discipline, which has become popular in many countries all over the world. The origin of the event can be traced back to the eighteenth century Norway. Nordic combined event combines cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Federation Internationale de Ski or the FIS is authorized to govern this skiing discipline at the international level.

Nordic Combined Skiing in the Winter Games: Nordic combined appeared at the Olympic schedule at the 1924 Chamonix Winter Games. The only event contested at the1924 Games was the individual event.

At present, the events contested at the Olympic Nordic combined skiing competition are-

• Individual large hill
• Individual normal hill
• Team large hill

Categories of Nordic Combined Skiing: Nordic combined skiing discipline has various categories. The most common categories of Nordic combined skiing are-

• Individual Gunderson
• Sprint
• Mass start
• Team

Rules of Nordic Combined Skiing: The Federation Internationale de Ski or the FIS sets rules for no0rdic combined skiing event at the international level. Some of the rules followed during the international skiing competitions are-

• The Nordic combined competitions are generally held in two age groups.
• The participants of the Nordic combined skiing competitions are not allowed to use any performance enhancing drug during the competition.
• All the equipments used during the skiing competitions have to be approved by the FIS.
• During the competition, a number of officials are appointed to supervise the skiers' performance.
• Violation of any FIS rule set for the Nordic combined event can lead to the disqualification from the competition.
• The length of the skiing course used during the cross-country skiing event is specified in the FIS rule-book.
• The skiing courses used during the competition should be constructed as per the standard set by the FIS.
• Before the skiing competition, the course should be properly inspected. The course must be appropriately marked for the skiers' convenience.
• The competitors must perform two rounds of jumps during the ski jumping event at the Olympic Nordic combined skiing competitions.

Medal winners in Nordic Combined Skiing: Norway, Finland, Germany and Austria have been dominating the field of Nordic combined at the international level. Samppa Lajunen, Ronny Ackermann, Felix Gottwald, Magnus Moan, Georg Hettich, Thorleif Haug, Thoralf Stromstad, Johan Grottumsbraten, Hans Vinjarengen, Odd Bjorn Hagen, Heikki Hasu, Sverre Stenersen, Ulrich Wehling, Jouko Karjalainen, Konrad Winkler, Bjarte Engen Vik, Fred Borre Lundberg, Fabrice Guy, Hippolyt Kempf, Tom Sandberg, Franz Keller, Tormod Knutsen, Simon Slattvik and Jaakko Tallus are some of the famous Nordic combined skiers at international level.