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.
57-627: The Four Hills Tournament (German: Vierschanzentournee ) or the German-Austrian Ski Jumping Week (German: Deutsch-Österreichische Skisprung-Woche ) is a ski jumping event composed of four World Cup events and has taken place in Germany and Austria each year since 1953. With few exceptions, it has consisted of the ski jumping events held at Oberstdorf , Garmisch-Partenkirchen , Innsbruck and Bischofshofen , in this order. The Four Hills Tournament champion
114-466: A hill , consists of the jumping ramp ( in-run ), take-off table, and a landing hill. Each jump is evaluated according to the distance covered and the style performed. The distance score is related to the construction point (also known as the K-point ), which is a line drawn in the landing area and serves as a "target" for the competitors to reach. The score of each judge evaluating the style can reach
171-512: A "sailing" effect of the ski jumping suit, material, thickness and relative size of the suit are regulated. Each jump is divided into four parts: in-run, take-off (jump), flight, and landing. By using the V-style , firstly pioneered by Swedish ski jumper Jan Boklöv in the mid-1980s, modern skiers are able to exceed the distance of the take-off hill by about 10% compared to the previous technique with parallel skis. Previous techniques included
228-656: A better result than 11th place. Janda did not enter the last race and finished the World Cup standings with 1151 points, still 127 ahead of Ahonen. He was the first Czech to win the ski jumping World Cup, and the first to win the Olympic discipline World Cup standings. Coach Vasja Bajc ended his relationship with the Czech team after the season and was replaced by an Austrian, Richard Schallert. Janda has competed in three Winter Olympics , earning his best finish of seventh in
285-532: A combination of the parallel and V-styles, in which the skis are spread very wide apart and held parallel in an "H" shape. It is prominently used by Domen Prevc . Skiers are required to touch the ground in the Telemark landing style ( Norwegian : telemarksnedslag ), named after the Norwegian county of Telemark . This involves the landing with one foot in front of the other with knees slightly bent, mimicking
342-515: A fixed number of points in each event according to their ranking, and the overall winner is the one with most accumulated points. FIS Ski Flying World Cup is contested as a sub-event of the World Cup, and competitors collect only the points scored at ski flying hills from the calendar. The ski jumping at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships was first contested in 1925. The team event was introduced in 1982, while
399-433: A jumper to be among 50 best jumpers in qualifications (with whatever result), but it is better for him to achieve a result as good as possible. The first jumper in the competition is the one who qualified 26th, followed by his pair who qualified 25th. The next pair has 27th and 24th from the qualification, one after that 28th and 23rd etc. The last pair has last qualified jumper against qualification winner. If qualification
456-416: A knock-out system first introduced for the 1996–97 season. The 50 competitors are divided into 25 pairs. All 25 winners of these duels plus the five best losers qualify for the second round. It is theoretically possible that a competitor who finishes the first round 12th will not qualify for the second round (if he loses his internal duel, five lucky losers and winners of their duels have better results) while
513-469: A maximum of 20 points. The jumping technique has evolved over the years, from jumps with the skis parallel and both arms extended forward, to the " V-style ", which is widely used today. Ski jumping has been included at the Winter Olympics since 1924 and at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships since 1925. Women's participation in the sport began in the 1990s, while the first women's event at
570-602: A non-official event near Akureyri on Iceland , in April 2024 Ryōyū Kobayashi achieved a distance of 291 m (955 ft) after 10 seconds in the air and landing smoothly. It was an unofficial world record which is not being counted as a ski flying world record by the FIS. In 2015 in Vikersund, Dimitry Vassiliev reached 254 m (833 ft) but fell upon landing; his jump is another unofficial record. Silje Opseth holds
627-649: A single victory. During the Four Hills Tournament many national jumpers from Germany and Austria are allowed to qualify for the competition. This allows them to show themselves and get experience. The national jumping team starts first in the qualification. In 1965, the Polish jumper, Stanisław Marusarz (silver medal in World Championship, 1938 in Lahti) who was visiting the tournament, asked
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#1732775441642684-405: Is followed by an out-run , a substantial flat or counter-inclined area that permits the skier to safely slow down. The out-run area is fenced and surrounded by a public auditorium. The slopes are classified according to the distance that the competitors travel in the air, between the end of the table and the landing. Each hill has a construction point ( K-point ), which serves as a "target" that
741-434: Is measured between the takeoff and the point where the feet came in full contact with the landing slope (for abnormal landings, touchpoint of one foot, or another body part is considered). Jumps are measured with accuracy of 0.5 meters for all competitions. During the competition, five judges are based in a tower to the side of the expected landing point. They can award up to 20 points each for jumping style, based on keeping
798-486: Is postponed until the day of competition, the knock-out system is not used, and competition follows regular world cup rules. Because of that in the 2007/08 tournament, the knock-out system was used only in Oberstdorf. Janne Ahonen is the only ski jumper to have won the tournament five times, with wins in 1998–99, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06 and 2007–08. Jens Weißflog was the first ski jumper to reach four wins, winning
855-523: Is regarded as the "father" of the modern ski jumping, won the first-ever ski jumping competition with prizes, which was held in Høydalsmo in 1866. The first larger ski jumping competition was held on Husebyrennet hill in Oslo , Norway, in 1875. Due to its poor infrastructure and the weather conditions, in 1892 the event was moved to Holmenkollen , which is today still one of the main ski jumping events in
912-407: Is the one who gets the most points over the four events. Unlike the World Cup ranking, however, the actual points scored during the competitions are the ones that are used to determine the winner. In 2005–06, Janne Ahonen and Jakub Janda shared the overall victory after finishing with exactly the same points total after the four competitions. In 2001–02, the anniversary 50th edition, Sven Hannawald
969-680: The 2022-23 season, women competed for the first time ever in ski flying. The historic event was held in Vikersundbakken in Vikersund the 19th March 2023. It was won by Slovenian jumper Ema Klinec In 2006, the International Ski Federation proposed that women could compete at the 2010 Winter Olympics , but the proposal was rejected by the IOC because of the low number of athletes and participating countries at
1026-748: The Kongsberger technique , the Däescher technique and the Windisch technique . Until the mid-1960s, the ski jumper came down the in-run of the hill with both arms pointing forwards. This changed when the Däscher technique was pioneered by Andreas Däscher in the 1950s, as a modification of the Kongsberger and Windisch techniques. A lesser-used technique as of 2017 is the H-style which is essentially
1083-713: The 2004–05 season he took several second and third places and one victory in World Cup events. He also won a silver and a bronze medal at the 2005 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf . Janda started the 2005/06 season with World Cup wins in Kuusamo , Lillehammer , Harrachov and Engelberg , and entered the Four Hills Tournament leading the World Cup standings. In the opening event in Oberstdorf, Janda finished in third place, with Janne Ahonen in first and Roar Ljøkelsøy in second. After winning
1140-414: The 49th edition of the tournament, Adam Małysz beat second placed Janne Ahonen by 104.4 points. This is the biggest winning margin in the tournament's history. He also won all four qualifications that year. The following year Sven Hannawald became the first person to win all four competitions in a single season. In 2017-18 Kamil Stoch has repeated Hannawald's record and year after, Ryōyū Kobayashi became
1197-459: The K-point is set at 90 meters and 120 meters, respectively. Competitors are awarded 60 points (normal and large hills) and 120 points (flying hills) if they land on the K-point. For every meter beyond or below the K-point, extra points are awarded or deducted; the typical value is 2 points per meter in small hills, 1.8 points in large hills and 1.2 points in ski flying hills. A competitor's distance
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#17327754416421254-543: The Olympics has been held in 2014. All major ski jumping competitions are organised by the International Ski Federation . Stefan Kraft holds the official record for the world's longest ski jump with 253.5 metres (832 ft), set on the ski flying hill in Vikersund in 2017. Ski jumping can also be performed in the summer on an in-run where the tracks are made from porcelain and the grass on
1311-605: The Olympics he returned to the podium in the World Cup event (2nd place in Lahti), but his form was less solid than at the beginning of the season. His biggest rival Janne Ahonen tried to take advantage of it, but also struggled and after disappointing Lahti results on the eve of the end of the season, he decided to withdraw from one race of the World Cup to concentrate on the last events in Norway and on mammoth hill in Planica . Janda's lead grew to 175 points with 200 points to gain in
1368-688: The World Cup. Those events are traditionally held in a slightly different format than other World Cup events (first round is held as a knockout event between 25 pairs of jumpers), and the overall winner is determined by adding up individual scores from every jump. Other competitions organised by the International Ski Federation include the FIS Ski Jumping Grand Prix (held in summer), Continental Cup , FIS Cup , FIS Race , and Alpen Cup . In January 1863 in Trysil , Norway, at that time 16 years old Norwegian Ingrid Olsdatter Vestby, became
1425-475: The competition with the same number of points, they are given the same placing and receive same prizes. Ski jumpers below the minimum safe body mass index are penalised with a shorter maximum ski length, reducing the aerodynamic lift they can achieve. These rules have been credited with stopping the most severe cases of underweight athletes, but some competitors still lose weight to maximise the distance they can achieve. In order to prevent an unfair advantage due to
1482-436: The competitors should reach. The classification of the hills are as follows: Competitors are ranked according to a numerical score obtained by adding up components based on distance, style, inrun length (gate factor) and wind conditions. In the individual event, the scores from each skier's two competition jumps are combined to determine the winner. Distance score depends on the hill's K-point. For K-90 and K-120 competitions,
1539-513: The first ever joint victors in the history of the tournament. Norway's Ljøkelsøy finished third. Janda was the first Czech winner of the Tournament since Jiří Raška in 1971. Janda then experienced a drop of form, leading to poor results at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin , finishing 13th in the individual normal hill, 10th in the individual large hill and 9th in the team large hill. After
1596-594: The first world champion. In the 2011–12 season, women competed for the first time in the World Cup . The first event was held on 3 December 2011 at Lysgårdsbakken at normal hill in Lillehammer , Norway. The first-ever female World Cup winner was Sarah Hendrickson , who also became the inaugural women's World Cup overall champion. Previously, women had only competed in Continental Cup seasons. In
1653-477: The first-ever known female ski jumper, who participated in the competition. Her distance is not recorded. Women began competing at the high level since the 2004–05 Continental Cup season. International Ski Federation organised three women's team events in this competition. Women's made a premiere FIS Nordic World Ski Championships performance in 2009 in Liberec . American ski jumper Lindsey Van became
1710-626: The gold medal in the 2005–06 FIS Ski Jumping World Cup as the 2006 World Champion. He also won the 2005/06 Four Hills Tournament (shared with Janne Ahonen ), as well as silver and bronze medals at the 2005 World Championships . Janda is one of the most successful ski jumpers from the Czech Republic, and is the only Czech World Cup champion to date. Janda made his World Cup debut in 1996. He had his first major success in 2003, finishing in third place in Liberec . Janda improved his performance under new Slovenian coach Vasja Bajc in 2004. In
1767-413: The jump length, and if weather conditions change during a competition, the conditions will not be the same for all competitors. Gate factor is an adjustment made when the inrun (or start gate) length is adjusted from the initial position in order to provide optimal take-off speed. Since higher gates result in higher take-off speeds, and therefore present an advantage to competitors, points are subtracted when
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1824-649: The jury in Garmisch-Partenkirchen to allow him a showcase jump. After a long debate, the jury agreed. Marusarz, who at this time was 53 years old (and not practicing jumping for nine years) achieved 66 meters, using borrowed skies and boots and making his jump in an official suit (in which he attended the New Years Party), which made the crowd applaud. [REDACTED] Media related to Four Hills Tournament at Wikimedia Commons Ski jumping The ski jumping venue , commonly referred to as
1881-628: The last round in Planica. Janda announced he did not want to participate in the ski flying event (he finished only seventh in the Ski Flying World Championships just after the Four Hills Tournament), but had to compete in Planica to secure his overall title. Qualifying last to the final round of the first of two Planica races and finishing 29th after the second jump, he was helped by Ahonen, who did not reach
1938-436: The maximum score of 20 points within one competition. Kazuyoshi Funaki is the only one in history who achieved this more than once. So far only seven jumpers are recorded to have achieved this score in total of ten times: Jakub Janda Jakub Janda ( Czech pronunciation: [ˈjakup ˈjanda] ; born 27 April 1978) is a Czech politician and former ski jumper . In ski jumping he competed from 1996 to 2017, winning
1995-506: The next three qualifying rounds as a result. The tournament climaxed with a head-to-head knockout duel between Janda and Ahonen. Janda won the first round by one point (tied to Ahonen on meters), then increased his lead to three points before the last jump. Ahonen beat Janda in the last jump by 141.5 meters to 139 meters and won the Bischofshofen competition by two points. The overall standings thus had both jumpers tied for first place,
2052-435: The one with the 49th first series result may still qualify (if his "rival" has the worst result). On the other hand, jumpers are less likely to be disadvantaged by a possible significant change in weather conditions between the start and end of the first series. A change in the direction and speed of the wind can make it impossible for the best jumpers to produce a good result. In the event of significantly worse conditions during
2109-466: The origins of ski flying began in Planica , Slovenia, where Josef Bradl became the first competitor in history to jump over 100 m (330 ft). At the same venue, the first official jump over 200 m (660 ft) was achieved in 1994, when Toni Nieminen landed at 203 meters. In 1964 in Zakopane , Poland, the large hill event was introduced at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships . In
2166-422: The same manner as all other world cup events. Traditionally, the order of the tournament competitions has been: Oberstdorf, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Innsbruck, Bischofshofen – with the following exceptions: One of the tournament's peculiarities is its qualifying system. Unlike other ski jumping events where the best 30 competitors in the first round qualify for the second round, all Four Hills events follow
2223-416: The same year, the normal hill event was included on the Olympic programme at the 1964 Winter Olympics . The team event was added later, at the 1988 Winter Olympics . A ski jumping hill is typically built on a steep natural slope. It consists of the jumping ramp ( in-run ), take-off table, and a landing hill. Competitors glide down from a common point at the top of the in-run, achieving considerable speeds at
2280-616: The season. In the late 19th century, Sondre Norheim and Nordic skier Karl Hovelsen immigrated to the United States and started developing the sport in that country. In 1924, ski jumping was featured at the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix , France. The sport has been featured at every Olympics since. Ski jumping was brought to Canada by Norwegian immigrant Nels Nelsen . Starting with his example in 1915 until late 1959, annual ski jumping competitions were held on Mount Revelstoke —
2337-414: The second half of the first series, the possibility exists that most of the best jumpers would be eliminated by bad luck alone. Directly pairing rivals reduces the impact of these conditions. In this competition format the qualifying series are valued as well, since jumpers with a better qualification result will have the opportunity to compete against jumpers with worse result. Therefore, it is not enough for
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2394-622: The second race of the Tournament in Garmisch-Partenkirchen , Janda moved to second place in the standings behind the reigning Tournament champion Ahonen. Norway's Lars Bystøl was the unexpected winner in Innsbruck while Janda finished ahead of Ahonen again to move into a two-point lead before the last competition. Like in all previous rounds, Janda advanced in last place into the competition to having skis that were too long during Oberstdorf qualifying and could not participate in
2451-599: The ski hill Nelsen designed — the longest period of any Canadian ski jumping venue. Revelstoke's was the biggest natural ski jump hill in Canada and internationally recognized as one of the best in North America. The length and natural grade of its 600 m (2,000 ft) hill made possible jumps of over 60 m (200 ft)—the longest in Canada. It was also the only hill in Canada where world ski jumping records were set, in 1916, 1921, 1925, 1932, and 1933. In 1935,
2508-415: The skis steady during flight, balance, optimal body position, and landing. The highest and lowest style scores are disregarded, with the remaining three scores added to the distance score. Gate and wind factors were introduced by the 2009 rules, to allow fairer comparison of results for a scoring compensation for variable outdoor conditions. Aerodynamics and take-off speed are important variables that affect
2565-523: The slope is covered with water-soaked plastic. The highest level summer competition is the FIS Ski Jumping Grand Prix , contested since 1994. Like most of the Nordic skiing disciplines, the first ski jumping competitions were held in Norway in the 19th century, although there is evidence of ski jumping in the late 18th century. The recorded origins of the first ski jump trace back to 1808, when Olaf Rye reached 9.5 m (31 ft). Sondre Norheim , who
2622-456: The starting gate is moved up, and added when the gate is lowered. An advanced calculation also determines compensation points for the actual unequal wind conditions at the time of the jump; when there is back wind, points are added, and when there is front wind, points are subtracted. Wind speed and direction are measured at five different points based on average value, which is determined before every competition. If two or more competitors finish
2679-487: The style of Telemark skiing . Failure to execute a Telemark landing leads to the deduction of style points, issued by the judges. All major ski jumping competitions are organised by the International Ski Federation . The large hill ski jumping event was included at the Winter Olympic Games for the first time in 1924 , and has been contested at every Winter Olympics since then. The normal hill event
2736-425: The take-off table, where they take off, carried by their own momentum. While airborne, they maintain an aerodynamic position with their bodies and skis, which allows them to maximise the length of their jump. The landing slope is constructed so that the jumper's trajectory is near-parallel with it, and the athlete's relative height to the ground is gradually lost, allowing for a gentle and safe landing. The landing space
2793-509: The team large hill event at Vancouver in 2010 while his best individual finish was 13th in the individual normal hill event at Turin four years earlier. On 2 October 2017 he made his last official career jump when he stuck at the qualification round of Grand Prix season final competition in Klingenthal . He was elected to the Czech parliament three weeks later. Janda participated in
2850-480: The third person to win all four events. Three nations each have sixteen victories: Austria , Finland and Germany (including nine victories earned by ski jumpers from East Germany , four - from West Germany and three - from unified German team). Fourth is Norway with eleven victories. Poland has five victories, Japan has four victories. Czechoslovakia and one of its successors the Czech Republic have two victories altogether, as have Slovenia . USSR has
2907-580: The time. A group of fifteen competitive female ski jumpers later filed a suit against the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games on the grounds that it violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms since men were competing. The suit failed, with the judge ruling that the situation was not governed by the charter. A further milestone was reached when women's ski jumping
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#17327754416422964-645: The tournament in 1984, 1985, 1991 and 1996. Helmut Recknagel , Bjørn Wirkola , Kamil Stoch and Ryōyū Kobayashi have the third best record, winning three titles each. Wirkola's victories came in three consecutive years (1967–1969), a record still uncontested. Janne Ahonen's fourth victory in 2005–06 was also the first time the tournament victory was shared, with Jakub Janda , who claimed his first Four Hills Tournament crown. Jens Weißflog and Bjørn Wirkola have both won ten Four Hills Tournament events. Janne Ahonen and Gregor Schlierenzauer are next with nine victories, followed by Ryōyū Kobayashi with eight. In 2000–01,
3021-567: The women's event was first held in 2009. The FIS Ski Flying World Championships was first contested in 1972 in Planica . The Four Hills Tournament has been contested since the 1952–53 season. It is contested around the New Year's Day at four venues – two in Germany ( Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen ) and two in Austria ( Innsbruck and Bischofshofen ), which are also scored for
3078-585: The women's world record at 230,5 metres (756 feet) which was set on 17th March 2024 in Vikersundbakken . The lists below show the progression of world records through history at 50-meter milestones. Only official results are listed, invalid jumps are not included. Those who have managed to show a perfect jump, which means that all five judges attributed the maximum style score of 20 points for their jumps. Kazuyoshi Funaki , Sven Hannawald and Wolfgang Loitzl were attributed 4x20 (plus another 19.5) style score points for their second jump, thus receiving nine times
3135-614: Was added in 1964 . Since 1992 , the normal hill event is contested at the K-90 size hill; previously, it was contested at the K-60 hill. Women's debuted at the Winter Olympics in 2014 . The FIS Ski Jumping World Cup has been contested since the 1979–80 season. It runs between November and March every season, and consists of 25–30 competitions at most prestigious hills across Europe, United States and Japan. Competitors are awarded
3192-445: Was included as part of the 2014 Winter Olympics at normal hill event. The first Olympic champion was Carina Vogt . Since 1936, when the first jump beyond 100 metres (330 ft) was made, all world records in the sport have been made in the discipline of ski flying . As of July 2024, the official world record for the longest ski jump is 253.5 m (832 ft), set by Stefan Kraft at Vikersundbakken in Vikersund , Norway. In
3249-400: Was the first to achieve the grand slam of ski jumping, winning all four events in the same edition. In 2017–18 season Kamil Stoch became the second ski jumper in history to obtain this achievement, and just a year later, in the 2018–19 edition, Ryōyū Kobayashi became the third. The four individual events themselves are part of the World Cup and award points toward the world cup in exactly
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