Ski jumping

From Free net encyclopedia

Ski jumping is a winter sport in which skiers go down a hill with a take-off ramp (the jump), attempting to go as far as possible. In addition to the length that skiers jump, referees give points for style. The skis used for ski jumping are wide and long, and only attach to the skier's toes.

Ski jumping originates from Morgedal, Norway, but the first proper competition was held in Trysil in 1862. The first widely known ski jumping competition was held in Husebybakken, Oslo, in 1879. The yearly event was moved to Holmenkollen from 1892, and Holmenkollen has remained the Mecca of ski jumping ever since.

1 Competition
2 Scoring
3 Technique
4 Popularity
5 Notable ski jumpers
6 Important venues
- 6.1 Ski jumping World Cup
  - 6.1.1 Four Hills Tournament
  - 6.1.2 Nordic Tournament
7 See also
8 External links

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Competition

Image:Calgary.jpg Today, World Cup ski jumping competitions are held on two types of hills:

"Normal hill" (or K90), which is 90 m high. Distances of up to 110 metres are reached
"Large hill" (or K120), which is 120 m high. The maximum distance is about 140 metres. Both individual and team competitions are run on this hill.

Individual Olympic competition consists of a training jump and two scored jumps. The team event consists of four members of the same nation who have two jumps each.

There is no ski-jumping category for women at the Olympic Games. This is a topic of some controversy ([1]).

Ski jumping is one of the two elements in the Nordic combined sport.

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Scoring

The winner is decided on a scoring system based on distance and style.

Each hill has a target called the calculation point (or K point) which is a par distance to aim for. This point is marked by the K line on the landing strip. For K90 and K120 competitions, the K line is at 90m and 120m respectively. Skiers are awarded 60 points if they land on the K Line. For every metre short/beyond this average, jumpers receive fewer/more points than the par 60 (1.8 points per metre).

In addition, five judges are based in a tower that lies to the side of the expected landing point. They can award up to 20 points for style based on: keeping the skis steady during flight, balance, good body position and landing.

The final score consists of the distance score plus the middle three style scores from the judges (the highest and lowest scores are ignored). For the individual event, the jumper with the best combined total from his two jumps is the winner.

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Technique

Using the modern V-technique, pioneered by Jan Boklöv of Sweden, world-level skiers are able to exceed the distance of the take-off hill by about 10 percent compared to the previous technique with parallel skis. Aerodynamics has become a factor of increasing importance in modern ski jumping, with recent rules addressing the regulation of ski jumping suits. This follows a period when loopholes in the rules seemed to favour skinny jumpers in stiff, "air foil"-like suits.

The skiers must touch the ground in the Telemark landing style. This involves the jumper landing with one foot in front of the other, mimicking the style of the Norwegian inventors of Telemark skiing.

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Popularity

Ski jumping is popular among spectators and TV audiences in Scandinavia and Central Europe. Almost all world-class ski jumpers come from those regions or from Japan. Traditionally, the strongest countries (with consistently strong teams) are Finland, Norway, Germany (formerly both East and West), and Austria. However, there always have been successful ski jumpers from other countries as well (see list below). The Four Hills Tournament, held annually at four sites in Bavaria (Germany) and Austria around New Year, is very popular and draws huge crowds.

There have been attempts to spread the popularity of the sport by finding ways by which the construction and upkeep of practising and competition venues can be made easier. These include plastic "fake snow" to provide a slippery surface even during the summer time and in locations where snow is a rare occurrence, and the Ski jumping sling invented by Spede Pasanen which allows construction of an inexpensive and unobtrusive jumping tower.

So-called ski flying events are held on particularly large ramps (such as the one in Planica, Slovenia, or the Kulm, Austria). The current ski flying world record, set by Bjørn Einar Romøren on March 20, 2005 in Planica, stands at distance of 239 meters.

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