Freestyle Skiing at the 1988 Winter Olympics

Freestyle skiing has its roots in Scandinavia, similar to all skiing disciplines, but its primary development occurred in North America. In the 1930s Norwegian skiers used ski acrobatics in training for cross-country and alpine competitions. It was considered an acceptable part of training but not a true competitive sport. In the United States, freestyle skiing developed as a part of professional ski exhibitions early in the 20th century. Standardized competitions began in the 1960s with the first freestyle skiing event taking place at Waterville Valley, New Hampshire in 1966. The first professional competitions were held in 1971 and the World Cup freestyle tour began in 1980. In 1979, the Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS) recognized freestyle skiing as a discipline. The first World Championships were contested in 1986 in Tignes, France.

In 1988 at Calgary, freestyle style was a demonstration sport, with the original three standard disciplines – aerials, ballet, and moguls. For 1992, freestyle was advanced to a medal sport, but only moguls was conducted as a medal sport, with aerials and ballet again demonstration events. The 1988 freestyle events took place on the Recreational Ski Hill at the Canada Olympic Park in Calgary.