Why do one sport when you could do two?
Nordic combined sees athletes compete across both ski jumping and a cross-country skiing, with the overall winner taking gold.
It is considered one of the most difficult winter sports due to the level of precision athletes must have across both disciplines to reach the top level.
Ahead of Milano Cortina 2026, here is everything you need to know about Nordic combined.
What is the Olympic history of Nordic combined?
One of the oldest Winter Olympic disciplines, Nordic combined first made it's Games debut back at Chamonix 1924, where it debuted with the men's individual event on the normal hill.
Team competitions were added into the programme at Calgary 1988 while the most recent addition to the Olympic competition is the large hill event, which was introduced at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
Why is it called Nordic combined?
The event has Nordic in the name because it combines the two traditional, historical skiing disciplines rooted in Scandinavian culture: ski jumping and cross-country skiing and was created in Norway during the late 18th Century.
What are the events in Nordic combined?
Nordic combined sees both individual and team competitions at the Olympics, with three gold medals in contention.
These include:
Individual normal hill/10 km race
Individual large hill/10 km race
Team sprint large hill/2x7.5 km race
How does Nordic combined work?
Nordic combined begins with a ski jumping competition, either the normal or large hill and is then followed by a 10km cross-country ski race, later the same day.
The Olympics use the Gundersen method - a scoring system for ski jumping which was created by Norway's Gunder Gundersen.
The score for ski jumping is determined by the distance covered by the athlete (two points per metre on the normal hill and 1.8 points on the large hill), and style (from 1-20).
The starting order from the cross-country race is then determined by the ski jumping results, with the winner starting the race first and the remaining athletes setting off behind depending on placing and points.
The first athlete to cross the finish line wins gold.
How does the team event in Nordic combined work?
In the team competition, two athletes from each country compete.
Each jump from the large hill and the total team score determines the starting order for a 2x7.5km cross-country relay.
Similarly to the individual event, the distance jumped is converted into seconds of advantage in the starting order and the first person to cross the line wins gold.
Who competes in Nordic combined?
At the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics, Nordic combined is the only sport in which women will not compete.
Great Britain will not see any representation in Nordic combined in Italy.
Five-time overall World Cup winner Jarl Magnus Riiber of Norway has since retired from competition, but keep an eye on favourites Johannes Lamparter (AUT), Jens Lurås Oftebro (NOR), and Julian Schmid (GER) on their quests for gold.
Sportsbeat 2026