Olympic History: Nordic skiing consists of three major disciplines: cross-country skiing, ski jumping, and Nordic combined, combining elements of both cross-country and ski jumping, all of which have been on the Olympic program since the Chamonix games of 1924. The IOC actually considers ski jumping a discipline within the sport of skiing.
Jumping off hills on skis was pioneered by Norwegian Sondre Norheim in the 19th century, and had developed into a full sport by the 20th century. It has been contested in the Olympic Winter Games since the start in 1924. Originally dominated by participants from Norway, the top competitors now also hail from Finland and Central Europe, with Japan having the best jumpers from Asia.
Three events are currently contested at the Olympics, all for men. Since 2009, women also compete in World Championships, but despite legal action to have the event included for the Vancouver Games, women did not compete in ski jumping in 2010. However, women’s ski jumping will be contested at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Through 1960, ski jumping at the Olympics had only a single event. But Olympic ski jumping is now contested on two hills, usually termed the normal and large hill. The size of the hill has varied over time, but those figures refer to the expected length of the jumps measured to the “norm” point of the hill, and not to the size of the hill. The exact size of the hills, most commonly measured by the distance of the calculation point (or K-point), has gradually increased. In 1924, the normal hill K-point was at 71 m, while in 2010 it was at 95 m, and the large hill was at 125 m. From 1964-88, the hills were termed the 70 metre (normal) and 90 metre (large), but since 1992, they were often called the 90 and 120 metre hills. The current K-points have been 95 m and 125 m in 2006-14. In the Olympics, a team event is also contested on the large hill.
Ski jumping is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS). As of November 2013, there are 120 member nations affiliated to the FIS. This makes it the largest International Sporting Federation for any winter sport. The FIS governs what it terms six disciplines of skiing – alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined, freestyle skiing, and snowboarding.
The 120 member nations of FIS are as follows: Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, DPR Korea (North), Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Kosova, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malta, Marocco, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Rumania, Russia, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United States of America, Uruguay, US Virgin Islands, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.