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98-870: Martin Höllwarth (born 13 April 1974) is an Austrian former ski jumper . At the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville , he won three silver medals. At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano , he won bronze in the team large hill competition. Höllwarth's biggest successes were at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships where he earned six medals, including three golds (team normal hill in 2001 and 2005; team large hill in 2005) and three bronzes (individual normal hill in 2001; team large hill in 1999 and 2001). On 4 February 2001, whilst returning from an event in Willingen ,

196-507: A "sailing" effect of the ski jumping suit, material, thickness and relative size of the suit are regulated. Each jump is divided into four parts: in-run, take-off (jump), flight, and landing. By using the V-style , firstly pioneered by Swedish ski jumper Jan Boklöv in the mid-1980s, modern skiers are able to exceed the distance of the take-off hill by about 10% compared to the previous technique with parallel skis. Previous techniques included

294-715: A K-point of 145 m, therefore not designed for world record distances from the outset. As of 2024 it remains the only ski flying hill to have been built outside of Europe. Planica and Oberstdorf briefly had a new challenger when the Čerťák K165 hill in Harrachov , Czech Republic (then a part of Czechoslovakia ), was opened in 1980. For one year, all three venues shared the world record when Armin Kogler jumped 176 m at Harrachov's opening event. He improved this to 180 m (590 ft) in 1981 , this time in Oberstdorf. Notably, at

392-422: A car driven by Höllwarth was involved in an accident in which Austrian coach Alois Lipburger died. Höllwarth and another passenger, fellow ski jumper and countryman Andreas Widhölzl , escaped with minor injuries. Höllwarth announced his retirement at the 2007/08 season . Ski jumping The ski jumping venue , commonly referred to as a hill , consists of the jumping ramp ( in-run ), take-off table, and

490-412: A chilling precursor of more to come. Over the next few years, the one-upmanship continued as the world record was again traded between Planica and Oberstdorf. In 1984 , Matti Nykänen jumped 182 m (597 ft) twice on the same day in Oberstdorf. By improving this to 185 m (607 ft) the next day, Nykänen became the first athlete since Reidar Andersen in 1935 to set three world records in

588-522: A combination of the parallel and V-styles, in which the skis are spread very wide apart and held parallel in an "H" shape. It is prominently used by Domen Prevc . Skiers are required to touch the ground in the Telemark landing style ( Norwegian : telemarksnedslag ), named after the Norwegian county of Telemark . This involves the landing with one foot in front of the other with knees slightly bent, mimicking

686-477: A fixed number of points in each event according to their ranking, and the overall winner is the one with most accumulated points. FIS Ski Flying World Cup is contested as a sub-event of the World Cup, and competitors collect only the points scored at ski flying hills from the calendar. The ski jumping at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships was first contested in 1925. The team event was introduced in 1982, while

784-455: A landing hill. Each jump is evaluated according to the distance covered and the style performed. The distance score is related to the construction point (also known as the K-point ), which is a line drawn in the landing area and serves as a "target" for the competitors to reach. The score of each judge evaluating the style can reach a maximum of 20 points. The jumping technique has evolved over

882-401: A mere 'special attraction' alongside its older and more prestigious sibling. With no world records set at the 1972 event, the organisers in Oberstdorf got to work by upgrading their hill to a K-point of 175 m (574 ft) for the 1973 Ski Flying World Championships . Janez Gorišek was brought in to oversee the project following Heini Klopfer's death in 1968. With the gauntlet laid down,

980-590: A non-official event near Akureyri on Iceland , in April 2024 Ryōyū Kobayashi achieved a distance of 291 m (955 ft) after 10 seconds in the air and landing smoothly. It was an unofficial world record which is not being counted as a ski flying world record by the FIS. In 2015 in Vikersund, Dimitry Vassiliev reached 254 m (833 ft) but fell upon landing; his jump is another unofficial record. Silje Opseth holds

1078-483: A part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia ), when 18-year-old Austrian Josef "Sepp" Bradl became the first man in history to land a ski jump of over 100 metres (330 ft). His world record jump of 101.5 m (333 ft) was set at Bloudkova velikanka ("Bloudek giant"), a new hill designed and completed in 1934 by engineers Stanko Bloudek and Ivan Rožman, together with Joso Gorec. A year earlier, Olav Ulland had crossed

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1176-535: A price, as illustrated by filmmaker Werner Herzog in his 1974 documentary The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner . During both the aforementioned events in Oberstdorf and Planica, several athletes including Steiner had far exceeded the limits of the hill by 'out-jumping' it or 'running out of slope'. Jumps were much further than in the 1950s, during which the old Kongsberger technique was still in use. The results were now potentially fatal each time: athletes were landing only metres away from completely flat ground, or

1274-462: A sanctioned discipline. Despite this reluctant recognition, the FIS still frowned upon the practice of aiming predominantly for long distances over style, and presently refuses to publish lists of world records in an official capacity. Furthermore, the rules for ski flying would not be fully established until after World War II . In 1941, with the K-point increased further to 120 m (390 ft),

1372-457: A silver medal, behind winner Hans-Georg Aschenbach . A year later in Planica, in front of a 50,000-strong crowd, Steiner finally achieved the world record he had been striving for, landing a jump of 169 m to equal that of Wossipiwo in 1973. Spectators were astonished and the event organisers momentarily bewildered, as Steiner had landed well beyond the markers used to indicate distance alongside

1470-453: A single day at the aforementioned 1983 event, the hill in Harrachov – a location named "Devil's Mountain" – became notorious for causing many violent accidents. Horst Bulau crashed and suffered a concussion, while Steinar Bråten and Jens Weißflog also crashed. Tapio Mikkonen crashed heavily in 1980, as did Ploc in 1985 and Iztok Melin in 1989 . All escaped serious injury, but it was

1568-404: A ski jumping hill. At the opening event of Velikanka bratov Gorišek , five world records were set: Bjørn Wirkola and Jiří Raška traded it among themselves four times, until Manfred Wolf ended their run with a jump of 165 m (541 ft). It can be said that competition between hill locations, all vying for world record honours, truly began at this time. The 1960s remains the decade with

1666-541: A specially designed takeoff ramp using skis only; jump from the end of it with as much power as they can generate; then glide – or 'fly' – as far as possible down a steeply sloped hill ; and ultimately land within a target zone in a stable manner. Points are awarded for distance and stylistic merit by five judges. Events are governed by the International Ski Federation ( Fédération Internationale de Ski ; FIS). The rules and scoring in ski flying are mostly

1764-409: A tightrope' in mid-air and leaving athletes at the mercy of the elements. Akimoto, Findeisen, Berg and Goldberger's accidents were all caused by unpredictable gusts of wind that made them lose control at the highest and fastest stage of their jumps, exacerbated by an outdated technique ill-suited to the new extremes of ski flying, as well as the prevalence of older hills featuring very steep slopes. In

1862-407: A transitional period of its own, going from a narrower "V" in the early to mid-1990s – which retained some features of the parallel style – to a much wider one at the end of the decade. Some athletes preferred to cross the back of the skis to exaggerate the "V" angle, while others leaned even more forward so that their body lay almost flat between the skis; both variations remain in use. The V-style

1960-464: A wooden marker indicating Steiner's failed efforts, Herzog explains solemnly: This mark is, in fact, the point where ski flying starts to be inhuman. Walter Steiner was in very great danger. If he'd flown 10 m (33 ft) more, he'd have landed down here on the flat. Just imagine, it's like falling from a height of 110 m (360 ft) onto a flat surface: to a certain death. In Planica, Herzog quoted Steiner as having said that he felt like he

2058-405: Is followed by an out-run , a substantial flat or counter-inclined area that permits the skier to safely slow down. The out-run area is fenced and surrounded by a public auditorium. The slopes are classified according to the distance that the competitors travel in the air, between the end of the table and the landing. Each hill has a construction point ( K-point ), which serves as a "target" that

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2156-434: Is measured between the takeoff and the point where the feet came in full contact with the landing slope (for abnormal landings, touchpoint of one foot, or another body part is considered). Jumps are measured with accuracy of 0.5 meters for all competitions. During the competition, five judges are based in a tower to the side of the expected landing point. They can award up to 20 points each for jumping style, based on keeping

2254-467: Is shown to reflect with trepidation in Oberstdorf: Ski flying has reached the point where it's beginning to present real dangers. We've just about reached the limit, I believe, as far as speed is concerned. ... Maybe I'd prefer to turn back [and] go back to flying off 150- or 130-metre hills, but it's the thrill of flying so far that nevertheless gives me a kick. Further down the hill and pointing to

2352-454: Is still not immune to failure if the air pressure under one ski is lost, but the results are much less catastrophic than with the parallel style; the latter had resulted in more head-first landings, whereas the V-style sees somewhat 'safer' landings on the back or shoulders. According to Mike Holland, "If you were hit by a gust of wind in the air, you would just flip over mid-flight", in reference to

2450-565: Is the FIS Ski Jumping Grand Prix , contested since 1994. Like most of the Nordic skiing disciplines, the first ski jumping competitions were held in Norway in the 19th century, although there is evidence of ski jumping in the late 18th century. The recorded origins of the first ski jump trace back to 1808, when Olaf Rye reached 9.5 m (31 ft). Sondre Norheim , who is regarded as

2548-453: The 1992 Ski Flying World Championships in Harrachov, where Andreas Goldberger suffered a similar crash to the ones which occurred in Kulm in 1986. On the first day of the event, a few seconds into his second jump, dangerous wind conditions forced Goldberger to lose control at a height of around 9 m and a speed of more than 107.4 km/h (66.7 mph), sending him plummeting face-first onto

2646-653: The 2022-23 season, women competed for the first time ever in ski flying. The historic event was held in Vikersundbakken in Vikersund the 19th March 2023. It was won by Slovenian jumper Ema Klinec In 2006, the International Ski Federation proposed that women could compete at the 2010 Winter Olympics , but the proposal was rejected by the IOC because of the low number of athletes and participating countries at

2744-402: The International Ski Federation . Stefan Kraft holds the official record for the world's longest ski jump with 253.5 metres (832 ft), set on the ski flying hill in Vikersund in 2017. Ski jumping can also be performed in the summer on an in-run where the tracks are made from porcelain and the grass on the slope is covered with water-soaked plastic. The highest level summer competition

2842-716: The Kongsberger technique , the Däescher technique and the Windisch technique . Until the mid-1960s, the ski jumper came down the in-run of the hill with both arms pointing forwards. This changed when the Däscher technique was pioneered by Andreas Däscher in the 1950s, as a modification of the Kongsberger and Windisch techniques. A lesser-used technique as of 2017 is the H-style which is essentially

2940-499: The "father" of the modern ski jumping, won the first-ever ski jumping competition with prizes, which was held in Høydalsmo in 1866. The first larger ski jumping competition was held on Husebyrennet hill in Oslo , Norway, in 1875. Due to its poor infrastructure and the weather conditions, in 1892 the event was moved to Holmenkollen , which is today still one of the main ski jumping events in

3038-474: The 100 m barrier in Ponte di Legno , Italy, but touched the snow with his hands, which rendered his jump – and world record – unofficial. With jumps now in the triple digits, Bloudek enthused: "That was no longer ski jumping . That was ski flying!" It was with these words that ski flying took on a life of its own. Such was the awe and disbelief at these massive jumps, the units of measurement were trivialised by

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3136-540: The 100+ m jumps to come. In 1938, exactly two years to the day of his milestone jump, Josef Bradl improved his world record by a wide margin to 107 m (351 ft). After a period of wrangling and increasing public interest in the novelty of this new 'extreme' form of ski jumping, the FIS relented. In 1938, a decision was made at the fifteenth International Ski Congress in Helsinki , Finland, to allow for "experimental" hill design, thereby officially recognising ski flying as

3234-526: The 1930s, ski flying has developed its own distinct history and since given rise to all of the sport's world records . The first hill designed specifically for ski flying was built in Yugoslavia in 1934, after which both Germany and Austria built their own hills in 1950. This was followed by Norway in 1966, the United States in 1970, and Czechoslovakia in 1980. From the 1960s to 1980s, a friendly rivalry between

3332-440: The 1980 Harrachov event, 16-year-old rookie Steve Collins won all three competitions with jumps consistently close to world record figures. At the 1983 Ski Flying World Championships , Pavel Ploc brought the world record back to Harrachov (which had since been upgraded to K185) by jumping 181 m (594 ft); this remains the last time a world record was set there. The issue of safety in ski flying had resurfaced. In only

3430-441: The 1983 Ski Flying World Championships in Harrachov, Mike Holland said: Climbing over the knoll, I thought 'this is SO damned high, I shouldn't be this high.' Since I wasn't ready for such height and speed, I threw out my arms at the end of the flight and let myself down 4 m (13 ft) short of the world record. It was during this time that the entire sport of ski jumping underwent a significant transition in technique. Until

3528-685: The European venues saw world records being set regularly, together with hill upgrades and evolutions in technique to fly longer distances. Ski flying remains at its most popular in Norway and Slovenia, where the most recent world records over the past three decades have been set in front of audiences numbering 30,000–60,000. It has been called the Super Bowl of winter sports. The origins of ski flying can be traced directly to 15 March 1936 in Planica , Slovenia (then

3626-438: The FIS in all aspects of ski flying, celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2012. In 1953, Kulm hosted the first International Ski Flying Week, which would be the premier event in ski flying until 1972. In 1967, in Oberstdorf, Lars Grini became the first to reach 150 m (490 ft). Planica triumphantly reclaimed its world record in 1969 with a new hill named Velikanka bratov Gorišek ("Giant by brothers Gorišek"). This

3724-404: The K-point is set at 90 meters and 120 meters, respectively. Competitors are awarded 60 points (normal and large hills) and 120 points (flying hills) if they land on the K-point. For every meter beyond or below the K-point, extra points are awarded or deducted; the typical value is 2 points per meter in small hills, 1.8 points in large hills and 1.2 points in ski flying hills. A competitor's distance

3822-605: The World Cup. Those events are traditionally held in a slightly different format than other World Cup events (first round is held as a knockout event between 25 pairs of jumpers), and the overall winner is determined by adding up individual scores from every jump. Other competitions organised by the International Ski Federation include the FIS Ski Jumping Grand Prix (held in summer), Continental Cup , FIS Cup , FIS Race , and Alpen Cup . In January 1863 in Trysil , Norway, at that time 16 years old Norwegian Ingrid Olsdatter Vestby, became

3920-410: The air, just as before, and crashed almost identically to Findeisen. One of Berg's skis, which had come loose after impact and was still attached to his foot, flailed around and hit him in the face – exposed due to his goggles detaching – as he was sliding to a stop. His injuries, including concussion and a broken ACL , were career-ending. At this point, Trautwig began calling into question the nature of

4018-475: The competition with the same number of points, they are given the same placing and receive same prizes. Ski jumpers below the minimum safe body mass index are penalised with a shorter maximum ski length, reducing the aerodynamic lift they can achieve. These rules have been credited with stopping the most severe cases of underweight athletes, but some competitors still lose weight to maximise the distance they can achieve. In order to prevent an unfair advantage due to

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4116-436: The competitors should reach. The classification of the hills are as follows: Competitors are ranked according to a numerical score obtained by adding up components based on distance, style, inrun length (gate factor) and wind conditions. In the individual event, the scores from each skier's two competition jumps are combined to determine the winner. Distance score depends on the hill's K-point. For K-90 and K-120 competitions,

4214-495: The construction of Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze ("Heini Klopfer ski flying hill") in Oberstdorf , West Germany . Designed by former ski jumper turned architect Heini Klopfer , as well as then-active ski jumpers Toni Brutscher and Sepp Weiler , the hill had a K-point of 120 m to match that of Bloudkova velikanka . The FIS, still wary of the rising popularity of ski flying and wanting to keep it in check, refused to sanction

4312-428: The construction of the hill, having previously denounced the 1947 and 1948 events in Planica. The stance of the FIS eased once again, as the inaugural event in Oberstdorf was given approval to be staged in 1950. During this week-long event, an estimated crowd of altogether 100,000 witnessed the world record fall three times, with Dan Netzell claiming the final figure of 135 m (443 ft). Tauno Luiro eclipsed it

4410-448: The early 1990s nearly all athletes used the parallel style (or Däscher technique), in which the skis are held close together and parallel to each other. This had been the norm since the 1950s; Matti Nykänen created a variation in the 1980s with the skis pointed diagonally to the side in a crude attempt to increase surface area , yielding more distance. However, this came largely at the expense of stability and balance, akin to 'walking

4508-502: The equivalent of falling from a multi-storey building with forward momentum. Furthermore, only a wool cap and goggles – or no headgear at all – were worn; an antiquated feature left unchanged from the very earliest days of ski jumping more than 150 years prior. In 1979, at their 32nd International Ski Congress in Nice , France, the FIS mandated helmets to be worn by athletes at all ski jumping and flying events. In Herzog's documentary, Steiner

4606-426: The fall. Former ski jumper Jeff Hastings , co-commentating, said: "I'm feeling a little sick to my stomach, Al... I can't believe this. I've never seen ski flying like this... So many falls." Findeisen was barely conscious and had to be stretchered away, later going into cardiac arrest but surviving. In the next round of the competition, Berg attempted another jump but was not as fortunate this time: he fell out of

4704-451: The fall. With the event cancelled, Goldberger's efforts from earlier were enough to earn him a silver medal behind eventual winner Noriaki Kasai , who became the first non-European Ski Flying World Champion. Goldberger was able to return to top-level competition within less than a year. Protective wind nets by the side of the hill were later installed in Harrachov for 1996 to minimise the effects of crosswind, along with major reprofiling of

4802-530: The first American world record holder since Henry Hall in 1921. Nykänen would follow this up by landing a metre further. In the final round of that event, and in a show of dominance as he closed in on his second Ski Jumping World Cup title, Nykänen wowed the crowd with a jump of 191 m (627 ft) to punctuate his title win and effectively bring the Planica–Oberstdorf rivalry to a close. Mike Holland later described his own jump: The world record jump

4900-576: The first world champion. In the 2011–12 season, women competed for the first time in the World Cup . The first event was held on 3 December 2011 at Lysgårdsbakken at normal hill in Lillehammer , Norway. The first-ever female World Cup winner was Sarah Hendrickson , who also became the inaugural women's World Cup overall champion. Previously, women had only competed in Continental Cup seasons. In

4998-472: The first-ever known female ski jumper, who participated in the competition. Her distance is not recorded. Women began competing at the high level since the 2004–05 Continental Cup season. International Ski Federation organised three women's team events in this competition. Women's made a premiere FIS Nordic World Ski Championships performance in 2009 in Liberec . American ski jumper Lindsey Van became

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5096-520: The following year by jumping 139 m (456 ft), a world record which would stay in place for almost ten years until Jože Šlibar jumped 141 m (463 ft) in 1961. The previous two decades of Planica holding a near-monopoly over the world record now seemed a distant memory, as it would instead be Oberstdorf's turn to do the same. Also in 1950, a ski flying hill was built at Kulm in Tauplitz / Bad Mitterndorf , Austria. Peter Lesser first equalled

5194-453: The forefront of ski jumping, their prominence in ski flying was short-lived, as it would be the last time Vikersund would hold a world record until four decades later. Seeking to co-operate on hill design and event organisation, the venues at Kulm, Oberstdorf and Planica formed the KOP working group in 1962 (KOP being an abbreviation of Kulm/Oberstdorf/Planica). This group would go on to consult with

5292-454: The grounds that they were unnecessarily dangerous and brought the sport into disrepute. Bloudek and his team nonetheless went ahead and flouted the rules in creating a so-called "mammoth hill" specifically designed for previously unimaginable distances. Bloudkova velikanka originally had a K-point of 90 m, by far the largest of any hill at the time, but was upgraded in less than two years to 106 m (348 ft) in eager anticipation of

5390-512: The highest amount of world records since the advent of ski flying, with seventeen in total being set on the hills in Oberstdorf, Planica, Kulm and Vikersund. By contrast the 1950s had the fewest with four, all being set in Oberstdorf. The world record stayed in Planica for four years, during which the K-point at Velikanka bratov Gorišek was upgraded to 165 m in time for the inaugural Ski Flying World Championships in 1972 , which eventually superseded International Ski Flying Week. This new event

5488-428: The hill below. He was taken by helicopter to a hospital, having sustained a broken arm and collarbone, and a concussion. František Jež also crashed, but was able to walk away with some help. The second and final day of the event was stopped due to worsened weather, culminating in a high-speed fall by Christof Duffner just as he landed a world record-equalling jump of 194 m, albeit rendered invalid because of

5586-504: The hill, which only went as far as the existing K-point of 165 m. For the first time since their respective hills had been built, the competition was levelled between Oberstdorf and Planica. On the next day of the event in the latter, Steiner tried to go even further: he landed at 177 m (581 ft) but fell down on what was almost flat ground, although this time he managed to walk away (albeit on unsteady legs) with only cuts to his face. All these increasingly long distances came at

5684-494: The hills (athletes were reaching 15 m (49 ft) in Planica) and takeoff speeds (Pavel Ploc reached 115.6 km/h (71.8 mph) in Harrachov in 1983) at an all-time high, as well as distances approaching 200 m (660 ft), the FIS took a stance against record-hunting for safety reasons. From Felder's world record in 1986 onwards, the FIS implemented a rule in which distance points would not be awarded beyond 191 m;

5782-413: The jump length, and if weather conditions change during a competition, the conditions will not be the same for all competitors. Gate factor is an adjustment made when the inrun (or start gate) length is adjusted from the initial position in order to provide optimal take-off speed. Since higher gates result in higher take-off speeds, and therefore present an advantage to competitors, points are subtracted when

5880-666: The jump would still count, but no points further than that could be achieved. Per this rule, Fijas' jump was officially scaled down to 191 m by the FIS, but the KOP group (led by the organisers in Kulm, Oberstdorf and Planica) independently recorded the actual figure. Neither Kulm nor Planica would hold a ski flying event for several years, leaving Oberstdorf and Vikersund to host the Ski Flying World Championships in 1988 and 1990 , respectively. At those events, world record distances and major incidents were avoided. The dangers of ski flying were still on full display at

5978-442: The late 1980s and early 1990s, Jan Boklöv pioneered the V-style : skis were instead spread outwards in an aerodynamic "V" shape, with the athlete's body lying much flatter between them. This created yet more surface area and lift , instantly enabling distances of up to ten per cent further. It also had a favourable effect of granting more stability in the air, although the peak speed was some 10 km/h (6.2 mph) slower than

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6076-470: The maximum score of 20 points within one competition. Kazuyoshi Funaki is the only one in history who achieved this more than once. So far only seven jumpers are recorded to have achieved this score in total of ten times: Ski flying Ski flying is a winter sport discipline derived from ski jumping , in which much greater distances can be achieved. It is a form of competitive individual Nordic skiing where athletes descend at high speed along

6174-514: The media, who suggested that the metre used in Yugoslavia was shorter than elsewhere in Europe. Bradl later spoke fondly of the jump which made him an icon in the sport: The air pushed violently against my chest; I leaned right into it and let it carry me. I had only one wish: to fly as far as possible! ... [After landing the jump], many thousands of curious eyes looked up at the judges' tower. I could hardly believe it when an additional '1' popped up on

6272-464: The opening day of the event, Martin Höllwarth jumped 196 m (643 ft) to edge the world record ever closer to 200 m. This was the first time a world record had been set using the V-style, with Piotr Fijas' being the last to use the parallel style. Andreas Goldberger became the first ski jumper in history to cross the 200 m barrier when he landed at 202 m (663 ft) but failed to maintain his balance as he squatted down and touched

6370-461: The origins of ski flying began in Planica , Slovenia, where Josef Bradl became the first competitor in history to jump over 100 m (330 ft). At the same venue, the first official jump over 200 m (660 ft) was achieved in 1994, when Toni Nieminen landed at 203 meters. In 1964 in Zakopane , Poland, the large hill event was introduced at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships . In

6468-416: The parallel style. In 1994, ski flying returned to a newly independent Slovenia, where the hill in Planica had been reprofiled with the aim of allowing for jumps of more than 200 m. The FIS was strongly against this and initially threatened to cancel the event on the grounds that its regulations on hill design had been violated. Negotiations between the organisers in Planica and the FIS managed to defuse

6566-437: The parallel style. At first this new technique was looked upon unfavourably by the judges, who made it an issue to downgrade style points for those who used it. Nevertheless, within a few years, with Boklöv having won the 1988/89 Ski Jumping World Cup season and other athletes promptly adopting the technique, the judges' stance quietly eased and the V-style became the ubiquitous standard still used today. The V-style itself had

6664-411: The results were showcased immediately when Heinz Wossipiwo set a world record of 169 m (554 ft) in Oberstdorf. Determined to claim the world record for himself, Walter Steiner – the reigning Ski Flying World Champion – jumped 175 m (574 ft) and 179 m (587 ft) but crashed heavily on both attempts, sustaining a concussion and a fractured rib. He would finish the event with

6762-640: The same as they are in ski jumping, and events under the discipline are usually contested as part of the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup season, but the hills (of which there are only five remaining, all in Europe) are constructed to different specifications in order to enable jumps of up to 66% longer in distance. There is also a stronger emphasis on aerodynamics and harnessing the wind, as well as an increased element of danger due to athletes flying much higher and faster than in ski jumping. From its beginnings in

6860-440: The same height, at an estimated takeoff speed of 112 kilometres per hour (70 mph), but was able to land safely on both skis. Immediately afterwards, Ulf Findeisen fell out of the air on his jump, crashing down face-first from 9 m and flipping head over heels repeatedly along the slope, only coming to a stop several seconds later. Al Trautwig , commentating for American TV network ABC , likened Findeisen to "a ragdoll" after

6958-466: The same year, the normal hill event was included on the Olympic programme at the 1964 Winter Olympics . The team event was added later, at the 1988 Winter Olympics . A ski jumping hill is typically built on a steep natural slope. It consists of the jumping ramp ( in-run ), take-off table, and a landing hill. Competitors glide down from a common point at the top of the in-run, achieving considerable speeds at

7056-535: The scoreboard! In the early 1930s, prior to the construction of Bloudkova velikanka , the FIS had deemed ski jumping hills with a K-point (German: Konstruktionspunkt ) of 70 m (230 ft) to be the absolute largest permissible. Athletes who chose to compete on hills with a K-point of more than 80 m (260 ft) were outright denied a licence to jump, and events allowing for distances beyond 90 m (300 ft) were strongly discouraged – even denounced – on

7154-548: The season. In the late 19th century, Sondre Norheim and Nordic skier Karl Hovelsen immigrated to the United States and started developing the sport in that country. In 1924, ski jumping was featured at the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix , France. The sport has been featured at every Olympics since. Ski jumping was brought to Canada by Norwegian immigrant Nels Nelsen . Starting with his example in 1915 until late 1959, annual ski jumping competitions were held on Mount Revelstoke —

7252-420: The situation, allowing that year's Ski Flying World Championships to take place. Before the event, Espen Bredesen said: "Of course I want to be the first [to reach 200 m], but I think that 210 m (690 ft) or 215 m (705 ft) are also possible." With most athletes having switched to the V-style, the sport was about to reach one of its biggest ever milestones. During the training round on

7350-588: The ski hill Nelsen designed — the longest period of any Canadian ski jumping venue. Revelstoke's was the biggest natural ski jump hill in Canada and internationally recognized as one of the best in North America. The length and natural grade of its 600 m (2,000 ft) hill made possible jumps of over 60 m (200 ft)—the longest in Canada. It was also the only hill in Canada where world ski jumping records were set, in 1916, 1921, 1925, 1932, and 1933. In 1935,

7448-415: The skis steady during flight, balance, optimal body position, and landing. The highest and lowest style scores are disregarded, with the remaining three scores added to the distance score. Gate and wind factors were introduced by the 2009 rules, to allow fairer comparison of results for a scoring compensation for variable outdoor conditions. Aerodynamics and take-off speed are important variables that affect

7546-456: The slope to comply with FIS safety regulations. This reprofiling – particularly at the hill's highest point, known as the knoll – was critical in reducing the fearsome height reached by athletes after takeoff, verified to be as high as 18 m (59 ft) in 1980. Thanks to these modifications, athletes no longer jumped with as much height as before and no major accidents have occurred in Harrachov since 1992. Speaking about his experience at

7644-493: The snow with his hands, rendering his jump an unofficial world record . The official honours went to Toni Nieminen only a short time later, who cleanly landed a jump of 203 m (666 ft) to claim the world record. On the next day during the second training round, Christof Duffner almost had his moment of glory when he jumped 207 m (679 ft), but fell upon landing just as he had done two years earlier in Harrachov. In that same training round, Espen Bredesen claimed

7742-410: The space of 24 hours. It would be the end of an era as this was the last time a world record was set in Oberstdorf; altogether twenty were set there. In 1985 , to coincide with that year's Ski Flying World Championships , Planica underwent another upgrade to increase the K-point to 185 m. World records were again shattered as a result. Mike Holland first jumped 186 m (610 ft) to become

7840-399: The sport: "Jeff, we talk about the fear and why the ski flyers are scared... I'm really starting to ask, why we're here and why they're doing it." Ernst Vettori , who was awaiting his own jump, withdrew from the event after witnessing the falls. Ski flying endured a static era beginning in 1987 , when Piotr Fijas set a world record of 194 m (636 ft) in Planica. With height over

7938-456: The starting gate is moved up, and added when the gate is lowered. An advanced calculation also determines compensation points for the actual unequal wind conditions at the time of the jump; when there is back wind, points are added, and when there is front wind, points are subtracted. Wind speed and direction are measured at five different points based on average value, which is determined before every competition. If two or more competitors finish

8036-478: The style of Telemark skiing . Failure to execute a Telemark landing leads to the deduction of style points, issued by the judges. All major ski jumping competitions are organised by the International Ski Federation . The large hill ski jumping event was included at the Winter Olympic Games for the first time in 1924 , and has been contested at every Winter Olympics since then. The normal hill event

8134-425: The take-off table, where they take off, carried by their own momentum. While airborne, they maintain an aerodynamic position with their bodies and skis, which allows them to maximise the length of their jump. The landing slope is constructed so that the jumper's trajectory is near-parallel with it, and the athlete's relative height to the ground is gradually lost, allowing for a gentle and safe landing. The landing space

8232-560: The time. A group of fifteen competitive female ski jumpers later filed a suit against the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games on the grounds that it violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms since men were competing. The suit failed, with the judge ruling that the situation was not governed by the charter. A further milestone was reached when women's ski jumping

8330-566: The venues did not last long, as four world records were set in Oberstdorf within a span of four days in 1976, bringing the official figure up to 176 m (577 ft) set by Toni Innauer at the end of the event. Three years later, Planica drew level once again when Klaus Ostwald equalled the world record. Elsewhere, in the Western Hemisphere, the United States opened its own ski flying venue in 1970: Copper Peak in Ironwood, Michigan , had

8428-552: The women's event was first held in 2009. The FIS Ski Flying World Championships was first contested in 1972 in Planica . The Four Hills Tournament has been contested since the 1952–53 season. It is contested around the New Year's Day at four venues – two in Germany ( Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen ) and two in Austria ( Innsbruck and Bischofshofen ), which are also scored for

8526-585: The women's world record at 230,5 metres (756 feet) which was set on 17th March 2024 in Vikersundbakken . The lists below show the progression of world records through history at 50-meter milestones. Only official results are listed, invalid jumps are not included. Those who have managed to show a perfect jump, which means that all five judges attributed the maximum style score of 20 points for their jumps. Kazuyoshi Funaki , Sven Hannawald and Wolfgang Loitzl were attributed 4x20 (plus another 19.5) style score points for their second jump, thus receiving nine times

8624-490: The world record for himself with a clean jump of 209 m (686 ft). The restrictive rule concerning jumps beyond 191 m, in place since 1986, was subsequently abolished by the FIS. However, as the rule was still in place at the time of Nieminen and Bredesen's jumps, their additional distances were nullified. This handed Jaroslav Sakala (with a jump of 185 m) the Ski Flying World Championship at

8722-463: The world record there in 1962, improving it three years later to 145 m (476 ft). Another hill entered the scene in 1966, when Vikersundbakken ("Vikersund hill") in Vikersund , Norway was rebuilt to ski flying specifications, having originally opened as a ski jumping hill in 1936. On this newly rebuilt hill the world record was first equalled, then broken twice to end up at 154 m (505 ft) in 1967. Although hills in Norway were still at

8820-468: The world record to win the gold medal, ahead of Nykänen who won bronze. All of this was overshadowed by a series of horrific accidents which took place earlier. In treacherous crosswind conditions, Masahiro Akimoto lost control moments after takeoff, falling suddenly from a height of 9 m (30 ft) onto his back. He suffered a fractured ankle in addition to chest and shoulder injuries. A few minutes later, Rolf Åge Berg frighteningly lost control at

8918-511: The world record was broken five times in Planica: it went from 108 m (354 ft) to 118 m (387 ft) in a single day, shared between four athletes. After World War II had passed, Fritz Tschannen matched the K-point with a jump of 120 m in 1948. This marked the last time Planica would hold the world record for almost two decades, as emerging new hills would soon provide stern competition. A challenger to Planica arrived in 1949 with

9016-536: The years, from jumps with the skis parallel and both arms extended forward, to the " V-style ", which is widely used today. Ski jumping has been included at the Winter Olympics since 1924 and at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships since 1925. Women's participation in the sport began in the 1990s, while the first women's event at the Olympics has been held in 2014. All major ski jumping competitions are organised by

9114-599: Was added in 1964 . Since 1992 , the normal hill event is contested at the K-90 size hill; previously, it was contested at the K-60 hill. Women's debuted at the Winter Olympics in 2014 . The FIS Ski Jumping World Cup has been contested since the 1979–80 season. It runs between November and March every season, and consists of 25–30 competitions at most prestigious hills across Europe, United States and Japan. Competitors are awarded

9212-415: Was in an arena with 50,000 people waiting to see him crash. On the third day of the event, while talking to journalists after a jump, Steiner appeared angered at the organisers' pressure on him to set more world records at the expense of his well-being: "They let me jump too far four times. That shouldn't happen. It's scandalous of those Yugoslav judges up there who are responsible." The stalemate between

9310-445: Was included as part of the 2014 Winter Olympics at normal hill event. The first Olympic champion was Carina Vogt . Since 1936, when the first jump beyond 100 metres (330 ft) was made, all world records in the sport have been made in the discipline of ski flying . As of July 2024, the official world record for the longest ski jump is 253.5 m (832 ft), set by Stefan Kraft at Vikersundbakken in Vikersund , Norway. In

9408-528: Was sanctioned a year earlier by the FIS at their 28th International Ski Congress in Opatija , Croatia (then a part of Yugoslavia). Much like in 1938 when the discipline received official recognition from the FIS, another milestone had been reached as ski flying was now granted its own world championship-level event on par with the Ski Jumping World Championships , having spent almost four decades as

9506-473: Was the brainchild of Slovenian brothers Janez and Vlado Gorišek , both engineers, who opted to design a new hill with a K-point of 153 m (502 ft) instead of enlarging the adjacent Bloudkova velikanka , which was showing signs of deterioration. Today, Janez is affectionately called the "father" of modern ski flying and a revered figure in Slovenia. Bloudkova velikanka was subsequently recategorised as

9604-434: Was very smooth. It felt like I was lying on my stomach on a glass coffee table, watching a movie projected on a screen underneath the table. Although the flight was very smooth, it seemed like the movie projector was running the film faster than intended. The 1986 Ski Flying World Championships in Kulm highlighted the dangers of the sport in a most graphic way. In the second competition of the event, Andreas Felder equalled

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