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
ski jumping. Whoever earned the most points from both competitions won the event. At the
1952 Winter Olympics, the ski 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 ski 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.