Ski Jumping fans will be glued to their TVs on Saturday as 50 competitors battle it out for medals in the men’s large hill final in Milano Cortina.
We take a look at the history of the men's individual large hill competition, how it works, and who will be aiming for gold this weekend.
Schedule
The men’s large hill will be the highlight of Saturday’s ski jumping program at the Winter Olympics and it will involve three jumps.
The trial round in which the order of competition will be decided starts at 11.30am EST (5.30pm local time), to be followed by the first round which starts at 12.45pm EST and the final round at 1.57pm EST (7.57pm local time).
Venue
All the ski jumping events at Milano Cortina 2026 are being held at the Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium in the town of Predazzo, Trento.
It was opened in 1989 and hosted its first World Cup event the following year.
History of men's individual large hill ski jumping
While there are now six ski jumping medals up for grabs at the Olympics, the men’s large hill was the only one at the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix in 1924 and it was there that the USA earned its only medal to date when Andres Haugen claimed bronze.
The first six were all won by Norwegians and that included a double success for Birger Ruud, who triumphed in 1932 and 1936.
That achievement was matched by Finland’s matti Nykanen who won in Sarajevo in 1984 and Calgary in 1988.
Japan’s Kazuyoshi Funaki is the only non-European to have taken the gold medal after he triumphed in front of a home crowd in Nagano in 1998.
How it works
There are three jumps to be taken but only the last two will count towards the final score. A trial run takes place, so the competitors can be placed in order for the competition proper.
Once the order is established, each of the 50 skiers will take a jump from the 141.5m hill and while the length they reach from the end of the ramp will be measured, their performance will also be awarded points for technical style and the all-important landing.
Once all the competitors have descended, the top 30 will qualify for a second jump and the combined scores from the two runs will go to decide who claims the medals.
Team USA Medal prospects
The USA has three competitors taking part in the Men’s Individual Large Hill ski jumping final, but it would be a huge surprise if they got into medal contention.
World champion Domen Prevc heads the market and the leader in the World Cup standings clearly looks the man to beat.
Japan’s Ryoyu Kobayashi deserves respect having finished second on the large hill four years ago in Beijing, where he won gold on the normal hill.
Norway’s Marius Lindvik won on that occasion and he is back to defend his trophy while Germany’s Philipp Raimund has already been at the top of the podium in these Games, having won on the normal hill on Monday.
Of the American contingent, Tate Frantz is competing at his first Olympics after the 20-year-old from Lake Placid made his World Cup debut three years ago.
He finished 21st on the normal hill earlier this week and improving upon that would be a good performance.
Kevin Bickner is an American record holder and brings plenty of experience is not a great deal of international success.
This is his third Olympics and he was 20th in Pyeongchang eight years ago and 39th in Beijing last time. His 33rd was not enough to see him into the final round of the normal hill competition on Monday.
Finally, 19-year-old Jason Colby completes the trio and he has so far enjoyed his first Games, finishing 20th on the normal hill.
Men's Individual Large Hill Final Odds
Domen Prevc | -175 |
Ren Nikaido | +450 |
Jan Hoerl | +650 |
Philipp Raimund | +1000 |
Ryoyu Kobayashi | +1400 |
Anze Lanisek | +2500 |
Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal | +2500 |
Gregor Deschwanden | +2500 |
Stephan Embacher | +4000 |
Felix Hoffmann | +4000 |
Marius Lingvik | +5000 |
Kacper Tomasiak | +5000 |
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
