Nordic Combined

Few winter sports disciplines, if any, are as demanding as the nordic combined, which requires the diverse combination of superior ski jumping skills and cross country endurance.

Nordic combined has been on the Olympic program since the first Games in 1924. A team event was included in 1994 and the sprint event added at the Salt Lake Games in 2002. There is no women's competition.

Norway and Finland are the oldest traditional powers in Nordic Combined, with over half of the gold medals in Olympic history. However at the Torino Games in 2006 Austria's Austria's Felix Gottwald was the star winning gold medals in the sprint and team events, and a silver medal in the individual.

The events for the Vancouver Games will be held at Whistler Olympic Park. This venue will also host ski jumping, cross country and biathlon.

Australia and Nordic Combined

Hal Nerdal represented Australia for the first and only time at Squaw Valley 1960. He participated in the 60m jump and the 15 kilometre cross country, placing 31st overall. There have been no other Australian competitors at the Winter Olympics between the years of 1964 and 2006. And no athletes will qualify for Vancouver 2010.

Competition Format / Events

There are three Nordic combined medal events at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games:

• Men’s individual normal hill (NH)/ 10 kilometres: one trial and one competition ski jump on the
Normal Hill and a 10-kilometre cross-country free technique race.

• Men’s individual large hill (LH)/ 10 kilometres: one trial and one competition ski jump on the Large Hill
and a 10-kilometre cross-country free technique race.

• Men’s team large hill/4 x 5 kilometres: one trial and one competition ski jump on the Large Hill and a 4 x 5-kilometre free technique relay race.

The combined ski jumping competition occurs before the combined cross-country race. The differences in the points from ski jumping are converted into time differences for cross-country ski starting order using the Gundersen method.