Nordic Combined is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and ski jumping into one event. It is one of the original Winter Olympic sports included under Nordic skiing, which consisted of military patrol (now biathlon), cross-country skiing, Nordic Combined, and ski jumping. Notably, it is the only Olympic sport—summer or winter—without a women’s competition.
Nordic Combined can trace its roots back to the early 19th century when Norwegian soldiers competed in the sport. The first major competition was held in 1892 in Oslo, Norway, at the famous Holmenkollen Ski Festival. This festival still takes place today every year in March at the same historic location.
Events consist of a ski jumping competition where athletes compete to fly the farthest down the hill with the cleanest technique, immediately followed by a cross-country ski race. During the ski jumping competition, technique or “style points” and distance points are added together to give the final score of the jump. The cross-country race is formatted as a pursuit-style race where the winner from the jumping starts first, and time penalties are given to the rest of the field based on how many points behind the leader they finished. The better the jump, the more of a head start in the ski race, but the first athlete to cross the finish line after skiing wins the Nordic Combined race.
Watch: A Look at Nordic Combined
Brief History of Nordic Combined
- 1892: First competition held in Oslo, Norway
- 1924: First Winter Olympic Games, including Nordic Combined, in Chamonix, France
- 1983: First FIS World Cup for Nordic Combined
- 2010: US wins 4 medals—1 gold and 3 silver—at the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver
- 2016: US wins bronze at the Youth Olympic Games
- 2016: Women allowed to compete at the FIS level
- 2018: US wins bronze at FIS Junior World Championships
- 2019: Women included in FIS Junior World Championships
- 2020: Women allowed to compete on the World Cup
- 2022: IOC denies women’s inclusion in Olympics and reduces quota for men
- 2024: US Women win 2 silver medals at FIS Junior World Championships
- 2024: Three US Men in Top 30 overall World Cup standings
- 2024: Two US Women in Top 25 overall World Cup standings