by Jill Jaracz
Our history episodes are so much fun to put together, but researching and writing some of these old Games takes a lot of digging and some mental gymnastics. With Cortina d’Ampezzo 1956 being our selection for this year, we’re a little lucky that Milano Cortina 2026 was happening, because that meant more media outlets were digging into 1956 Games history. That made it a little easier to find some facts (in English). Some.
But trying to understand Nordic combined was a different exercise altogether. Even though it’s been part of the Winter Olympics since the very first Games in Chamonix, Nordic combined has probably been one of the smallest sports — if not the smallest — on the Winter Olympic program. Sure, it’s big in Norway, but in the U.S. and other English-speaking nations, it’s not very popular at all, so not much English-language reporting has been devoted to it, particularly in terms of the sport’s evolution.
Nordic combined changed for Cortina 1956, but it wasn’t enough
Nordic combined has changed drastically over the decades. If you listened to our Cortina 1956 episode on Nordic combined and ski jumping, you’ll know that for the first time, Nordic combined was a stand-alone event. The ski distance also changed at these Games.
But how athletes actually won the event was incredibly confusing. Athletes earned points in each element of the event, but looking back, it wasn’t clear how cross-country points were awarded. A racer could have middling results in each element and still find themselves on the podium.
Over the years, the sport continued to evolve. The ski distance changed again. Team events were added to the Olympic program. But the biggest change of all had to be the Gundersen method.
Enter Gunder Gundersen
The Gundersen method, which the International Ski Federation (FIS) says is the “traditional” format, was developed by Gunder Gundersen, a Norwegian who won a silver in Nordic combined at the 1954 World Championships. He was supposed to compete at Cortina 1956, but he sustained an arm injury two days before competition and had to bow out. He did become an Olympian in 1960 and finished 11th in the Individual event.
Although he finished last among his Norwegian teammates at those Games, Gundersen continued to be involved on the technical side of the sport. He returned to the Olympic stage at Lake Placid 1980, where he was the technical director for Nordic combined.
Just a few years after those Games, his name would be forever linked with the sport, when he developed an eponymous race format that would finally make Nordic combined more understandable and exciting for a general audience.
The Gundersen Method explained
The Gundersen Method is the form of competition we know today. The simplest explanation is that the entire competition is a pursuit. Point results in the ski jump translate to starting order in the cross-country portion. The leader starts first, and the starting times for the rest of the field depend on how far back they are in the standings, with ski jumping points converted to seconds behind (race directors have a whole book of tables to help with this). The winner is the one first over the line, which makes for a race format that’s easier to understand and more exciting to watch.
When Gundersen developed his format, it came at the perfect time for the sport. The World Cup circuit had just developed for Nordic disciplines, and Nordic combined’s first World Cup season was in 1983/84. The Gundersen Method was first introduced at the World Championships in 1985 and at the Olympics at Calgary 1988.
Gundersen’s innovative chase format proved to be the secret sauce in making Nordic combined more compelling. In fact, the Gundersen format proved so successful that other sports like modern pentathlon and biathlon added a pursuit format to their competitions.
An innovation becomes tradition
Gundersen died in 2005 at 74, but his method lives on. Ironically, where it was once a major innovation, the Gundersen Method is now considered the “traditional” format of the sport. Today’s Nordic combined has two other formats: Individual Compact and Mass Start.
In the Individual Compact, cross-country skiing time differentials correspond with ski jump placements rather than the points earned. This format puts the emphasis on fast cross-country skiing over good jumping.
The Mass Start puts the cross-country portion is first, and all competitors start at the same time. Finishing order in the cross-country determines starting order for the jumping portion, with the fastest skier going last. This format favors jumping skills over ski speed.
Both of these newer race formats sound interesting, and it’s a shame we won’t see them on the Olympic stage – at least in 2030. Why Nordic combined, an original Winter Olympic sport couldn’t manage to capture people’s attention, even with the Gundersen Method, is a different mystery.
Photo: Author unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons