Australia and Olympic Nordic Combined
Hal Nerdal represented Australia in Nordic Combined at the 1960 Games in Squaw Valley and there hasn’t been another Australian achieve this feat since. Hal participated in the 60m jump and the 15 kilometre cross country, gaining 332.387pts and placing 31st overall.
Olympic History
The Nordic Combined title was considered the ultimate event of the early versions of the Olympic Winter Games. It appeared on the program of the first Games at Chamonix 1924 and has remained on the program ever since. The Nordic Combined team event was added to the program at Calgary 1988.
Sport Format
Nordic Combined has its 5,000-year-old roots in Norway. All three Nordic Combined events consist of a ski jumping competition and a cross-country skiing race.
Each nation can enter up to four competitors, who do not need to be the same in the individual and team competitions. There is no Nordic Combined event for women.
The Gundersen method, named after its creator from Norway Gunnar Gundersen, has been used since Calgary 1988. It is used to determine the starting places for the cross country. Once the jumping points are totalled, they are converted into time penalties. In brief, a 10-point lead provides for a one minute start.
Individual Gundersen Normal Hill (10km)
This event consists of one trial ski jump on the normal hill (90m), one scored ski jump on the normal hill and a 10km cross-country ski race. The second jump is scored for length and style and the results determine the start order for the cross-country. The winner of the ski jumping competition starts in first place and the points from ski jumping are converted into time differences for the starting order of the cross-country race.
Individual Gundersen Large Hill (10km)
The sprint event also consists of one trial ski jump but on the large hill (120m), one scored ski jump on the large hill and a 10km cross-country race. The start order is determined on the basis of the second ski jump results of all athletes. The winner of the ski jumping competition starts in first place and the points from ski jumping are converted into time differences for the starting order of the cross-country race.
Team Gundersen Large Hill (4x 5km)
The team event consists of two jumps for each team member, one trial ski jump and one scored ski jump from the large hill (120m). Each team consists of four jumpers. The team's score in the jumping portion is the total score of all four scored jumps. The same skiers who participate in the jumping must compete in the 4x 5km relay and the start order is determined by ski jumping results. The winner is the team whose final skier crosses the finish line first.
20 Years on from Gold!
On 16th February 2002 Steven Bradbury won Australia's most famous gold medal and two days later Alisa Camplin cemented Australia's footprint on the Winter Olympic stage.
During the 20 years since, Winter Olympic Sports in Australia have gone from strength to strength, developing world class infrastructure and yielding success on snow and ice.
