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Maybe the most majestic of Olympics sports, ski jumping has captured the
public's fascination for generations.
With a combination of strength, style and nerve, ski jumpers can travel
up to 140 meters off a large hill and can be in the air for around five
seconds. Every jumper worth his ski wax is looking for a decent headwind,
which gets up under the skis and adds lift, translating to longer flights.
Distance, though, is not the only thing in ski jumping. Style is key, too.
Jumpers have to stay calm on the in-run (no points if you fall there).
They have to hit the takeoff point precisely. They must fly with knees
locked, arms by their sides and skis on the same plane. They have to be
steady, even with a headwind. They have to land, in the right place, with
one leg in front of the other to absorb impact, then keep the landing for
a minimum of 15 meters.
Five judges watch it all, scoring on a scale from 0-20, with the highest
and lowest scores being tossed out.
Style is imperative, but distance has its place. There's a point on
landing called the K-point -- the third line drawn in the snow in the
landing area -- which all jumpers aim for. At Nagano's normal hill, it's
measured at 90 meters. On the large hill, it's 120 meters. Every meter a
jumper lands past that is worth two points. Every meter under, two points
are subtracted (1.8 on the large hill).
The finishes are based on the combined score of two jumps. The team
competition, off the large hill, adds two jumps for all four team members
to the final score.
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Masahiko Harada, Japan, 1st on large hill at '97 Worlds
Takanobu Okabe, Japan, 4th on large hill at '94 Lillehammer Games
Janne Ahonen, Finland, 1st on normal hill at '97 Worlds
Dieter Thoma, Germany, 2nd on large hill at '97 Worlds
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| Feb. 11 |
Normal Hill
9:30 a.m. JT (7:00 p.m. ET Feb.10) |
| Feb. 15 |
Large Hill
9:30 a.m. JT (7:00 p.m. ET Feb.14) |
| Feb. 17 |
Team Large Hill
9:30 a.m. JT (7:00 p.m. ET Feb.16) |
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