Ski jumping has been contested at every Winter Games. It is one of only two winter sports that restrict the participation of women. (Nordic Combined, which incorporates ski jumping, is the other.) However, there are efforts being made to add a women's competition in time for the 2010 Games.
There are currently three events on the 2010 Olympic program:
Normal Hill (K95), Large Hill (K125), Team (K125)
Inside this sport: Competition Format | Equipment
Venue: All of the events will be contested at the Whistler Olympic Park, the same venue used for Cross Country Skiing, Biathlon and Nordic Combined. Venue capacity will be 12,000. The venue features stable winds and a wooded setting, optimal for ski jumping. The ski jumping venue used for the 2006 Games, Pragelato, had three training hills (K15, K30, K60) for beginning jumpers. Whistler will also have one temporary snow bump.
Torino recap
Both individual events witnessed extremely close finishes at the top of the leader board. In the normal hill competition, Norway's Lars Bystoel edged Finland's Matti Hautamaeki by one point for his country's first gold medal in the sport since 1994. In the Large Hill, the margin of victory was even smaller. Austria's Thomas Morgenstern needed a 140-meter jump and a near-perfect landing to nip countryman Andreas Kofler by one-tenth of a point. Morgenstern and the Austrians also captured the team title.
Salt Lake star shines again
One of the darlings of the 2002 Salt Lake City Games was Switzerland's Simon Ammann. The young ski jumper with a vibrant personality and a striking resemblance to Harry Potter grabbed surprising gold medals in both the normal and large hill competitions and the hearts of many a female fan. After an injury-plagued stint around the 2006 Torino Games, Ammann has rebounded in the last two years and figures to be one of the favorites going into Vancouver.
Who to watch
With the exception of the re-emergence of Ammann, the landscape of world ski jumping has not changed much since Torino. The Austrians, led by 2006 double gold medalist Morgenstern, up-and-comer Gregor Schlierenzauer and Wolfgang Loitzl, and the Finns, with Matti Hautamaeki, Ville Larinto and Harri Olli, have the deepest teams. The next tier includes the Norwegians, Germans and Japanese. The United States has not fared well in Olympic ski jumping, and does not figure to do well in 2010. Only one American jumper, Norwegian-born Anders Haugen, has won an Olympic medal, bronze in 1924.
Women seek equal jumping power
The IOC voted against the inclusion of women's ski jumping on the Vancouver Games program, citing low numbers of active competitors and jumping nations and a short history. (The first women's senior World Ski Jumping Championships event will be held on Feb. 20, 2009, in Liberec, Czech Republic.) A group spearheaded by Women's Ski Jumping USA and several elite female ski jumpers have filed a discrimination lawsuit in British Columbia in an attempt to overturn the IOC's decision. The hearing will be held on April 20.
Q&A: Lindsey Van
Lindsey Van may not have the opportunity to compete at the Olympics despite being one of the best ski jumpers in the United States and among the world's premier female jumpers. She spoke with NBCOlympics.com about the technical nuances of her sport, its status in the U.S. and the frustrating Olympic exclusion. Read more.
"The Eagle" soars again
The last time the Winter Olympics were held in Canada, the 1988 Calgary Games, ski jumping entered the media spotlight, thanks to the comedic performance of Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards. The spectacled British plasterer finished in last place in both the normal and large hill competitions, but earned widespread popularity for his dash and daring. In 2009, the story will be chronicled on the big screen in Eddie the Eagle.
Since winning gold in Torino, the king of the halfpipe has become a skateboarding champion. He's found time to surf, too.
