Summary: <p>More skis than you can shake a pole at. It’s Cross Country Skiing and the Nordic Combined. Both events coming up in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, so we’re taking an extended look at its history and top winners.</p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Where/When did it start</span> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Cross Country began in 1924 with women starting in 1952</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Nordic countries: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_countries"><span style="font-weight: 400;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_countries</span></a> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Different than Scandanavia</span></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">How do you win?</span> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Cross Country Skiing: Have the fastest time</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hill split into 3 equal parts of uphill, downhill and flat</span></li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Events</span> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Mens</span> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">CC: Men’s 15km Free, 15km + 15km Skiathlon, Sprint Classic, Team Sprint Free, 50km Mass Start Classic, 4 x 10km Relay</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nordic: Individual Gundersen NH/10km, Individual Gundersen LH/10km, Team Gundersen LH/4x5km</span></li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Womens</span> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">CC: Ladies’ 10km Free, 7.5km + 7.5km Skiathlon, Sprint Classic, Team Sprint Free, 30km Mass Start Classic, 4 x 5km Relay</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Nordic: Not in this Olympics but coming in 2022, just started ski jumping in 2014</span> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Men thought their uteruses would fall out</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Great piece from Deadspin on the history and sexism behind women in ski jumping: https://deadspin.com/why-it-took-90-years-for-womens-ski-jumping-to-make-the-1520520342</span></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Events </span> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Individual – Staggered starts</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Skiathlon – Everyone starts at the same time</span> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">First half classic technique, second half skate skiing technique</span> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Classic – more similar to walking</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Skate Skiing – looks a lot like the speed skating start that you see. Push outwards.</span></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Sprint</span> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Shorter distance</span></li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Team Sprint</span> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Short distance with two athletes alternating legs</span></li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Mass Start</span> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Everyone starts together in one big ol race</span></li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></li> </ul> </li> </ul>
