Winter Olympics 2010 Guide: Nordic Combined

Nordic Combined / Editor / 04 February 2010 / Leave a comment

Magnus Moan celebrates winning a stage at the World Cup in January

High-wire jumping, gruelling cross-country and the Gundersen Method - Nordic Combined is a punishing event where stamina is everything. So who should be backed to go the distance and emerge triumphant?

"In the team event, four competitors jump once on a large hill then form a relay team for a 20km race."

What is it?
No winter competition involves two more diverse disciplines as the Nordic Combined. This is the sport where competitors must have the grace and explosive power required for ski-jumping plus the stamina and steel needed for a gruelling cross-country race.

The sport heralded the 'Gundersen Method' of deciding the winner. This means competitors in the concluding race will be staggered according to their results from the previous events, in this case a jump. Competitors are awarded two points per metre in the jump and anything between three and 30 for style. Every 15-point gap between competitors in the jumping will equate to one minute at the start of the cross-country. The racer who crosses the line first wins gold. There are 'normal hill' and 'large hill' events, each of which end with a 10km race. More interesting is team event. All four jump once on a large hill then form a relay team for a 20km race.

History
There is a certain romance to the history of the Nordic Combined. Throughout the 19th century skiers in Norway would gather for winter festivals and competitions. Some turned into carnival athletes who would exhibit their endurance in the cross-country and bravery. It was one of the events at the first Winter Games at Chamonix in 1924. The team event (1988) and sprint (2002) are recent introductions.

Who to watch
The wonderfully-named Magnus Moan is worth consideration if his jumps are half-decent. The Norwegian is very fast on skis and during the 2008-09 once passed 24 competitors in overcoming a deficit of 108 seconds to win.

Fact
The Nordic Combined is exclusively a male event. It also seemed to be an exclusively Scandinavian event until, West German Georg Thoma won a groundbreaking gold in 1960.

Best Bet
Jason Lamy-Chappuis of France has led the World Cup standings for most of the season and sat out some recent events to prepare for the games.

Tags: Nordic Combined, Olympic Nordic Combined betting, Skiing betting, Vancouver 2010 betting, Winter Olympics betting