place_of_death gunder gundersen
Gunder Gundersen ( 12 September 1930 -- 2 June 2005 ) was a Norwegian nordic combined skier and sports official . The Nordic combined events have been contested at the Winter Olympic Games since 1924 . The first competition involved 18 km cross - country skiing , followed by ___MASK46___ jumping . Whoever earned the ___MASK42___ points from both competitions won the event . At the 1952 Winter Olympics , the ___MASK46___ jumping was held first , followed by 18 km cross - country skiing . The cross - country skiing portion was reduced to 15 km at the 1956 Winter Olympics . The ___MASK46___ jumping styles would change over the years as well , from the Kongsberger technique after World War I to the Daescher technique in the 1950s to the current V - style from 1985 onwards . The cross - country skiing technique would switch from classical to freestyle for all competitions beginning in 1985 , but the biggest change would occur at the 1988 Winter Olympics in the scoring with the Gundersen method , meaning the 15 km cross country portion would go from an interval start race to a pursuit race , so that whoever crossed the finish line first won the event . The team event with a 3 x 10 km cross country relay started at the 1988 Winter Olympics , changing to the current 4 x 5 km cross - country relay at the 1998 Winter Olympics . The 7 . 5 km sprint event was added at the 2002 Winter Olympics . Nordic combined remains a men ' s only event as of the 2010 Winter Olympics . For the 2010 Winter Games , the 15 km Individual Gundersen which consisted of 2 jumps from the normal hill followed by 15 km cross country will be replaced by a 10 km individual normal hill event which will consist of one jump from the individual normal hill following by 10 km of cross country using the Gundersen system while the 7 . 5 km sprint will be replaced by the 10 km individual large hill event . Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross - country skiing and ___MASK46___ jumping . Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics and the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup are ongoing . ___MASK46___ jumping is a form of Nordic skiing in which athletes descend a specially constructed takeoff ramp ( known as the " inrun "), jump from the end of it ( the " table ") with as much power as they can generate , and " fly " as far as possible down a steeply sloped hill . Points are awarded for distance and style by five judges , with competition sanctioned by the International ___MASK46___ Federation ( FIS ). To enable the athletes ( who are known as " ___MASK46___ jumpers ") to effectively glide such long distances and land safely , the skis they use are considerably wider and longer than their cross - country and ___MASK65___ skiing counterparts . ___MASK46___ jumping is predominantly a winter sport and has been part of the Winter Olympic Games since its inception in 1924 for men and since 2014 for women . Since 1954 it is possible to ___MASK46___ jump in summer on artificial surfaces made from plastic . Along with cross - country skiing , ___MASK46___ jumping is one of two sports which form the Nordic combined discipline . Holmenkollbakken in ___MASK52___ is the holy place of this sport , which is most popular in Austria , Germany , Finland , Japan , Norway , Poland and Slovenia . The FIS Nordic Combined World Cup is a Nordic combined competition organized yearly by FIS , representing the highest level in international competition for this sport . It was first arranged for the 1983 / 84 season . Team event was first time held in 1999 / 00 season . The FIS race director is a Norwegian ex ___MASK46___ jumper and ex world record holder Lasse Ottesen . A winter sport or winter activity is a recreational activity or sport which is played during cold weather months . ___MASK42___ such sports are variations of skiing , ice skating and sledding . Traditionally such sports were only played in cold areas during winter , but artificial snow and artificial ice allow more flexibility . Artificial ice can be used to provide ice rinks for ice skating , ice hockey and bandy in a milder climate .