Nordic Combined at the 1988 Winter Olympics

The 1988 Nordic combined events were held at Canmore Nordic Centre for cross-country skiing, and Canada Olympic Park for ski jumping. Canmore was a specially constructed venue for the 1988 Calgary Olympics. The centre is located 105 km (65 miles) west of Calgary, and was later declared an Alberta Provincial Park. Canmore has areas for cross-country skiing, mountain biking, and hiking. Canada Olympic Park was also constructed for the 1988 Winter Olympics and was the site of ski jumping, bobsled, and luge.

There were two major changes to the Olympic Program in 1988 in Nordic combined. A second event was added for the first time in Winter Olympic history, a team event, which in 1988 consisted of three skiers. In the team event, each skier took three jumps, with the best two to count. The next day a 3 x 10 km relay was held, with the teams starting by the Gundersen Method. The first Olympic Nordic combined relay was won by Germany.

The Gundersen Method was also used in the individual Nordic combined and this was the first time that this method was used at the Winter Olympics. It was first used at a major international at the 1985 World Championships. In this method, the skiers go off in the order of their placements after the ski jumping, with the interval between skiers determined by a formula allotting seconds to the ski jumping points. It is designed so that the finish of the ski race, individual and relay, yields the exact finish of the Nordic combined event, making it much more exciting for spectators.