Ski Jumping at the 2014 Winter Olympics

The individual disciplines consisted of a qualification with the top 50 qualifying for the final, although the leading 10 in the World Cup were exempt from qualifying. In the final, only the top 30 reached the second round. For the first time wind and gate factors, which were introduced in 2009, were applied in Olympic events. The wind factor allowed compensation for the changing wind conditions by deduction of points or adding bonus points. The gate factor made it possible to modify the length of the run-up without having to start the round all over. The ski jumping events took place at the RusSki Gorki Jumping Centre, which had a capacity of 7,500 spectators, and was part of the Krasnaya Polyana Mountain Cluster.

The big winner of the men’s events was Kamil Stoch from Poland, winning both the normal and large hill events. Slovenian Peter Prevc also won one silver and one bronze in the individual events. A thrilling team event saw Germany and Austria take and re-take the lead, Germany eventually finishing ahead by just 2.7 points, beating Austria, the dominant team of the last decade. Japan’s bronze medal in the team event gave veteran Noriaki Kasai, who competed in his record seventh Olympics, another bronze medal in addition to his silver in the individual large hill event and to the silver he won in Lillehammer in 1994.

After many years of campaigning, women were allowed to compete in ski-jumping for the first time at the Olympics. The first women’s Olympic gold medal went to the German Carina Vogt, while pre-Games favorites Sarah Hendrickson (USA) and Sara Takanashi (JPN) missed the medal ranks. Takanashi eventually was a disappointed fourth and world champion Hendrickson had muted expectations for Sochi after an anterior cruciate ligament injury only a few months before the Games.