Speed skiing was a demonstration sport only at the 1992 Olympic Winter Games in Albertville. The event was unfortunately marred by two deaths: competitor Nicolas Bochatay crashed with a snow groomer, while one of the course officials was struck by a skier during a training run.
Despite never appearing at the Winter Olympics as a full medal sport, speed skiing is governed internationally by the Fédération internationale de ski (FIS), which was founded on 2 February 1924 during the Chamonix Olympics. The FIS succeeded the Internationale Skikommission (CIS), which had been formed on 18 February 1910 in Christiania (today Oslo). Despite keeping the acronym FIS, on 26 May 2022, at the FIS Congress at Milano, Italy, its name was changed to the International Ski & Snowboard Federation. FIS also governs the Olympic disciplines of Alpine skiing, cross country skiing, freestyle skiing, Nordic combined, ski jumping, and snowboarding. As of 2024, the FIS had 138 member associations.