Ski jumping: everything you need to know about the Super Team, the new format for the 2026 Olympic Games
Universality is one of the cardinal values of Olympism. The IOC is committed to offering competitions with a greater number of participating countries than in the World Cup. To this end, it limits the number of competitors per nation. Although 30 Austrian jumpers would have been eligible for selection, only four were selected to compete on the jumps in Predazzo (Italy) at the Milan/Cortina Olympics.
A competition that promotes universality
The same logic applies to the men’s team event, which will become a Super Team in 2026. This means a format with two competitors, compared with four for the format adopted in 1988. Another special feature is that each nation can select a combined team for this competition (as for the mixed team event). As a result, 18 countries are able to field a pair for the 2026 Olympic Games Super Team, compared with 11 pairs entered in the previous edition.
The Super Team was introduced in 2022, and is still rarely contested. It was not included in the Nordic World Ski Championships, and has only competed eight times in the World Cup.
Every jump counts
Scheduled to last two hours, the Super Team is divided into three heats. In each heat, the first competitor from each team first takes to the air on the big hill. Once all the nations have flown, the second jumper in each pair takes off in turn. The starting order is then determined by the world rankings, with the best pairs taking off last. At the end of the first round, the 12 highest-ranked teams(with the scores of the two competitors added together) climb back to the top of the platform for the second round.
The same principle applies, but this time the starting order is determined by the rankings: the twelfth team starts first, with the provisional leader last. The four scores from the first two rounds are added together, and the top 8 qualify for the final round, which follows the same principle as the previous one. At the end of the six jumps, the ranking is established: the pair with the highest score wins Olympic gold.
