Ski jumping
|
|
| Highest governing body | International Ski Federation (FIS) |
|---|---|
| First played | 22 November 1808 Olaf Rye, Eidsberg church, Eidsberg, Norway |
| Characteristics | |
| Team members |
M Individual (50) L Individual (40) Team event (4) |
| Type | Nordic skiing |
| Equipment | skis |
| Venue |
Asia Europe North America |
| Presence | |
| Olympic |
1924 (men) 2014 (ladies) |
| World Championships |
1925 (men's nordic) 1972 (ski flying) 2009 (ladies' nordic) |
Ski jumping is a form of Nordic skiing in which athletes descend a specially constructed takeoff ramp (known as the inrun), jump from the end of it (the table) with as much power as they can generate, and "fly" as far as possible down a steeply sloped hill. Points are awarded for distance and style by five judges, with competition sanctioned by the International Ski Federation (FIS). To enable the athletes (who are known as ski jumpers) to effectively glide such long distances and land safely, the skis they use are considerably wider and longer than their cross-country and alpine skiing counterparts. Ski jumping is predominantly a winter sport and has been part of the Winter Olympic Games since its inception in 1924 for men and since 2014 for women. Since 1954 it is possible to ski jump in summer on artificial surfaces made from plastic. Along with cross-country skiing, ski jumping is one of two sports which form the Nordic combined discipline. Holmenkollbakken in Oslo is the holy place of this sport, which is most popular in Austria, Germany, Finland, Japan, Norway, Poland and Slovenia.
According to the sources of Dutch naval officer Cornelius de Jong from his book Reizen naar de kaap, first ski jumping experiments dates back to 1796. In this book it's described, how that year soldiers of some Norwegian ski company used house and barn roofs as ski jumping hills and discovered that the hard landing could be reduced by jumping on a steep slope.
The recorded origins of the first ever real ski jump can be traced directly to 22 November 1808 in which Danish-Norwegian lieutenant Olaf Rye launched himself 9.5 metres (31 ft) in the air as a show of courage to his fellow soldiers near Eidsberg church in Eidsberg, Norway.
...
Wikipedia