Daredevil sport of ski jumping a traditional highlight of Games

Ski jumping is one of the pillars of the Winter Olympics, having been part of the Games since the first edition in 1924. Watching athletes seemingly defy gravity as they glide through the air at the National Ski Jumping Center in Zhangjiakou promises to be a truly thrilling experience.

There will be five ski jumping events at Beijing 2022, including a mixed team event which is making its Olympic debut.

The ski jumping mixed team event made its international level debut at the World Cup in November 2012. Since 2013, mixed team events have also been held at the Nordic World Championships. It features four athletes - two women and two men - competing on the normal hill in a contest that is sure to be a highlight of the Winter Olympics schedule.

With technological advances in suits and skis, the fearless athletes approach speeds of about 100 kilometers per hour before launching themselves off a jump. Ski jumpers lean forward in flight, nearly parallel to their skis to form a V shape, to maximize aerodynamics. They earn points for distance as well as style, which is scrutinized by five judges.

"Ski jumping is a sport that's about what you have done for me lately and it's all about who can get hot at the Olympics," said NBC analyst Johnny Spillane, a three-time Nordic combined Olympian. "It's not uncommon to have a surprise winner."

The men's competition comprises the normal hill individual, large hill individual and men's team events, with the women's competition consisting solely of the normal hill.

The men's competition is expected to be hotly contested between Ryoyu Kobayashi of Japan and Karl Geiger of Germany, who was also in brilliant form at the world championships this season.

Geiger replaced Kobayashi as the world's top-ranked ski jumper after winning on home soil on Jan 23. Unfortunately, Geiger's teammate, Olympic ski jumping champions Andreas Wellinger could not come to Beijing due to a knee injury and recently tested positive for COVID-19. Wellinger is the gold medalist from Sochi 2014 in the team competition and individually on the normal hill at Pyeongchang 2018.

Meanwhile, four-time Olympic champion Simon Ammann, 40, will compete in his seventh Winter Games. Ammann is the only jumper to have won a golden double of both individual titles - normal hill and large hill - at two Olympics, in 2002 and 2010. The "Flying Harry Potter", who ranks 38th in the World Cup standings, may once again surprise all in Beijing.

On the women's side, Austria's Marita Kramer has been dominant on the World Cup circuit this season, winning events in November and December.

Sara Takanashi of Japan holds the all-time record for the most individual World Cup wins - male or female - with 61. She will be hoping to improve upon the bronze medal she won at Pyeongchang 2018.

"Kramer is the strongest jumper and when she's on, she's tough to beat," Spillane said. "Takanashi is the winningest ski jumper of all time - among men or women - but she doesn't have a gold medal from the Olympics yet."

The fifth and final gold medal in ski jumping will be awarded on Feb 14 in the team event. Norway, Germany and Austria have won the last three Olympic team events. The trio will likely populate the podium again in Beijing, although Slovenia has a chance to upset the traditional powerhouses.