Johnny Spillane (left) and Billy Demong (right) receiving medals at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games 

Topics covered in this post:

General Info, Competition Formats, How Scoring Works, Women’s Nordic Combined, Disqualifications

General

Nordic Combined is a sport that combines cross-country skiing and ski jumping into one event. Nordic Combined was invented in Oslo, Norway at the famous Holmenkollen Ski Festival, and was included in the very first Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix France in 1924. Events normally consist of a ski jumping competition where athletes compete to fly the farthest down the hill with the cleanest technique, followed by a cross-country ski race. During the ski jumping competition, athletes’ technique or “style points,” and distance points are added together giving the final score of the jump. After the jumping competition, athletes swap their jump skis for cross-country skis to battle for the win. 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 were. Think of it like the better you jump, the more of a head start you get. The first to cross the finish line wins so no matter how poorly or well you jumped, it all comes down to an exciting ski race.

Competition Formats

Individual Gundersen:

-          The standard Nordic Combined competition. Ski jumping competition first, followed by a pursuit style ski race where first across the line wins. Usually a 5km ski for women and 10km for men.

Team Gundersen:

-          Same as Individual Gundersen, but athletes are on teams of 4 representing their country. 4x5km for men.

Mass Start:

-          Reverse of the Individual Gundersen. Athletes cross-country ski first with all athletes starting at the same time. After the ski race points are calculated based off time back from the leader and the jump competition is held to determine the winner. Races are 10km for men, 7.5km for women.

Team Sprint:

-          Teams of two jump first, followed by pursuit style cross-country race. Each teammate races 7.5km, this is split up into 5 laps each of a 1.5km course with a tag-off after each lap. For women: 2x4.5 km split up into 3 laps each of 1.5km course.

Individual Compact (New!):

-          Similar to Individual Gundersen, but with a maximum time penalty of 90 seconds. This makes for a more exciting ski race because the field is tighter after the jumping, favoring athletes who are stronger Nordic skiers. Races are 7.5km for men 5km for women.

Mixed Team:

-          Pursuit style race after the jumping with two men and two women. Men ski 5km, women ski 2.5km with the order going 5km + 2.5km + 2.5km + 5km.

Provisional Competition Round (PCR):

-          The PCR is a ski jumping competition that happens the day before, or the day of, the first event of the weekend. The PCR consists of one jump that is only to be used if one of the jumping events is cancelled. Cancellations are common and are usually due to bad weather such as too much wind, snow, or rain. Think of the PCR as a backup competition, so if the jumping later in the weekend must be cancelled, they can still hold the ski race using results from the PCR.

How does the scoring work? (Nerds Only)

Most Nordic Combined competitions take place on either a K90, K120 or something in between. Those represent the size of the ski jump, in meters, measured from the takeoff to the red line, or calculation point, at the bottom of the hill. Generally speaking, an athlete’s goal is to jump as far as they can, but in most competitions, jumping past the red line signifies a good jump. In Nordic Combined an event consists of a Trial Jump, which is just a warmup jump that doesn’t count, and one competition jump where an athlete’s distance and style is scored.

The above table shows the calculation for Distance and Style Points. The distance of the jump is measured from takeoff to landing by a laser measurement system. A jump to the “K” point, or red line, is an automatic 60 points. If you jump shorter than that, your distance points are subtracted from 60 based on how far from the K point you were. So, say for example you are jumping a K90 and only jump 89 meters. Your distance score will be 60 – 2 x (1 meter) = 60 – 2 = 58. If you jump farther than the “K” point, you add your points to 60. Style Points are awarded by the judges based off the balance throughout the flight, and the stability of the landing. Being off balance in the air, waving your arms, or not landing in a stable telemark position will reduce your style points. The jumper with the highest total score (Distance + Style points) is the winner of the jumping round!

Alright, so the jumping is done and it’s time for the ski race. How do they calculate how far back each person starts? The time penalty is based on the jumping points as well as the distance of the ski race.

The table above shows how the time penalty will be calculated after the jumping. So, for example, say that you jumped into second place, 7.5 points behind the leader. That means that you must start the ski race 30 seconds after the leader starts.

Now you know the bulk of how scoring in Nordic Combined works! It may look extremely complicated and hard to understand, but the good news is that all these calculations happen behind the scenes. All you really need to know to enjoy the competition is that athletes need to jump far with good style to win the jumping, and the first person across the finish line in the ski race is the winner*!

*Most of the time… see Competition Formats, Mass Start

What’s up with all the disqualifications?

In almost every competition, there will be someone who gets Disqualified (DSQ) or is Not Permitted to Start (NPS) during the ski jumping competition. This can happen for many different reasons, but there are distinct differences between an NPS vs DSQ. At the beginning of every season, athletes’ body proportions (weight, height, arm length, etc.) are measured and recorded. These measurements are used to determine the legal sizes of all the gear: Suits, skis, boots, gloves. During competitions, athletes’ suit size is checked before every jump at the top of the hill, known as “suit control” right before they get on the bar. If the Equipment Controller at the top decides your suit is too big, or it doesn’t match the measurements taken at the beginning of the year, they can disqualify you and not let you jump. A disqualification at the top of the jump is called an NPS. You can also be NPS if you touch anything other than your zippers after going through the suit control.

 After the jump, athletes can be called into the Equipment Room where the Equipment Controller can check anything they want-- skis, boots, gloves, suit, anything. If the controller finds anything that is too big, or against the rules, they will disqualify you which is a DSQ. So, an NPS happens at the top of the jump for suit violations, and a DSQ happens at the bottom for any equipment that they check. Athletes are always pushing the boundaries of their gear to gain any advantage they can on the jump. Having a bigger suit gives you a bigger wingspan in the air and can make a significant difference, so athletes are always trying to wear the biggest suit they can without being disqualified. Athletes are also using new and different suits every weekend to see if they can improve, but sometimes the suit is deemed too big by the Equipment Controller. Athletes need to pass suit control at the top as well as Equipment Control at the bottom to avoid being disqualified. 

Due to constant testing of new, better, and more risky equipment, disqualifications are a common occurrence on the ski jumping hill.