Performance and jump-to-jump development in the first female ski flying competition in history.

In 2023, for the first time in history, the international ski and snowboard federation (FIS) arranged an official ski flying competition where the 15 highest ranked women were allowed to participate. This study investigated jump-to-jump performance development in female ski flying, with men's results used as reference data. Official FIS data from all six jumps of women were evaluated together with the eight jumps by men. Performance was evaluated by a score, where the distance points compensated by wind were divided by take-off speed, enabling performance to be evaluated across jumps and sexes. Women improved performance by 96% from the first to the sixth jump, with two major leaps; from the first to the second jump and from the first to the second day. In contrast, men mainly improved from training to competition. The best women had performance scores equivalent to the 10-20 best ranked men and the sex-difference between the top 3 athletes was 26.2%. This difference was thereafter compared to similar results in the normal and large hill World championship in Planica 2023, in which sex-differences between the top 3 were 8.6% and 14.6% in normal and large hill. This historical competition showed the importance of gaining practical experience with ski flying on performance, exemplified by the large improvement of female athletes. This, together with the enlarge sex-differences in large compared to normal hills, indicates that female ski jumpers have a particularly large improvement-potential in ski flying and must gain specific experience on this through traning and competitions.

Investigation of individual strategies in the aerial phase in ski jumping.

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the performance strategy of three ski jumpers during the steady glide phase and explain how different strategical solutions can lead to jumps of roughly the same length. In this study, a total of 24 jumps performed by two World Cup (WC) athletes and one Continental Cup (COC) athlete were measured with a differential Global Navigation Satellite System (dGNSS) on a large ski jumping hill. For each athlete, the continuous position data, velocity, aerodynamic forces and lift-to-drag ratio (LD-ratio) were averaged and compared for the steady glide phase to examine individual jump strategies. The dGNSS yielded accurate measurements of trajectory, velocity and aerodynamic forces, revealing clear differences between the athletes. The largest differences were found between the WC athletes and the COC athlete. The WC athletes focused on maximizing horizontal velocity while the COC athlete minimized vertical velocity. This difference may be explained by the different hill sizes the athletes normally compete on. One of the WC athletes consistently increased their horizontal velocity during the end of the steady glide phase by maintaining a high LD-ratio, which highlights the effect of aerodynamics on the resulting velocity, trajectory and jump length.

Assessment of the steady glide phase in ski jumping.

The purpose of this investigation was to compare how key variables of the steady glide phase relate to performance in the two hill sizes used in World Cup and Olympic competitions, i.e, normal and large hills. In this study, 38 and 33 jumps of elite ski jumpers were measured with a differential global navigation satellite system (dGNSS) on a normal (HS106) and large hill (HS140), respectively. For the steady glide phase, the average aerodynamic forces, lift-to-drag-ratio (LD-ratio), vertical and horizontal acceleration and velocity were measured and related to the jump distance as a performance outcome. The aerial time difference between the two hill sizes was 1.1s, explained by the time spent in the steady glide phase. The results for HS106 were in line with the assumptions in recent literature, which propose that the performance is largely determined by the take-off and glide preparation. Hence for normal hills, skiers should aim to reduce vertical acceleration through high aerodynamic forces during the glide phase. Also, no correlation was observed between the LD-ratio and jump length. The data from the large hill indicate that the performance during the steady glide is very important for performance; hence clear differences were found compared to the normal hill. On a large hill, the aim should be to minimize the horizontal deceleration by reducing the aerodynamic drag. A high LD-ratio was correlated to jump length for HS140 and seen to be one of the most important performance factors.

Kinematic Determination of the Aerial Phase in Ski Jumping.

The purpose of this study was to find a generic method to determine the aerial phase of ski jumping in which the athlete is in a steady gliding condition, commonly known as the 'stable flight' phase. The aerial phase of ski jumping was investigated from a physical point mass, rather than an athlete-action-centered perspective. An extensive data collection using a differential Global Navigation Satellite System (dGNSS) was carried out in four different hill sizes. A total of 93 jumps performed by 19 athletes of performance level, ranging from junior to World Cup, were measured. Based on our analysis, we propose a generic algorithm that identifies the stable flight based on steady glide aerodynamic conditions, independent of hill size and the performance level of the athletes. The steady gliding is defined as the condition in which the rate-of-change in the lift-to-drag-ratio (LD-ratio) varies within a narrow band-width described by a threshold τ. For this study using dGNSS, τ amounted to 0.01s-1, regardless of hill size and performance level. While the absolute value of τ may vary when measuring with other sensors, we argue that the methodology and algorithm proposed to find the start and end of a steady glide (stable flight) could be used in future studies as a generic definition and help clarify the communication of results and enable more precise comparisons between studies.

Performance Analysis in Ski Jumping with a Differential Global Navigation Satellite System and Video-Based Pose Estimation.

This study investigated the explanatory power of a sensor fusion of two complementary methods to explain performance and its underlying mechanisms in ski jumping. A differential Global Navigation Satellite System (dGNSS) and a markerless video-based pose estimation system (PosEst) were used to measure the kinematics and kinetics from the start of the in-run to the landing. The study had two aims; firstly, the agreement between the two methods was assessed using 16 jumps by athletes of national level from 5 m before the take-off to 20 m after, where the methods had spatial overlap. The comparison revealed a good agreement from 5 m after the take-off, within the uncertainty of the dGNSS (±0.05m). The second part of the study served as a proof of concept of the sensor fusion application, by showcasing the type of performance analysis the systems allows. Two ski jumps by the same ski jumper, with comparable external conditions, were chosen for the case study. The dGNSS was used to analyse the in-run and flight phase, while the PosEst system was used to analyse the take-off and the early flight phase. The proof-of-concept study showed that the methods are suitable to track the kinematic and kinetic characteristics that determine performance in ski jumping and their usability in both research and practice.

Aerodynamic investigation of tucked positions in alpine skiing.

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the aerodynamics of tucked positions in competitive alpine skiing. To further our understanding of how a skier's position affects the air flow and the resulting aerodynamic drag, a combination of both experimental and simulation methods was used. This study focused in particular on the effect of skier torso and thigh angles relative to the air flow direction, as these two angles have been previously found to be important determinants of aerodynamic performance in tucked positions. Two top 30 world-ranked skiers were investigated in two different wind tunnels, and the results were compared with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations performed using a 3D scan of one of the athlete. To quantify the effect of torso and thigh angles on skier drag, changes in drag were measured relative to baseline positions. Skier drag area increased by approximately 0.8 and 1.2% per degree increase in torso and thigh angles relative to the baseline position, respectively. This trend was consistent between both of the experimental wind tunnel tests as well as the CFD simulations, indicating good agreement between methods. The CFD simulations further indicated that the air flow about the lower legs made the largest contribution to skier drag, accounting for as much as 40-50% of the total drag area in low tuck positions. Based on these findings, a low tuck position where the torso angle approaches 0° and the knees help to fill the gap behind the armpits will minimize skier aerodynamic drag.

Aerodynamic investigation of the inrun position in Ski jumping.

This study aims to investigate the inrun position in ski-jumping, in search for factors increasing the inrun speed without compromising the take-off. The inrun position of eight World Cup (WC) and fifteen Continental Cup (COC) ski jumpers were investigated in a wind tunnel at NTNU. A preferred position, replicating a jumper's position in competition, was measured for each athlete. Improvements, based on common sense aerodynamics, with the aim to improve the aerodynamic drag were executed. The aerodynamically best of these was compared with the preferred position. A numerical model simulating the inrun speed in ski-jumping hills was used to evaluate the impact the results will have in different hill sizes, for comparisons of drag measurements and inrun speed in competitions. In the preferred position, COC had 15.5% higher drag area than the WC athletes. In their best tested position, a group difference of 10.8% was found. These differences correspond with speed differences between 0.4 and 1.3 kmh-1, or 1-3 gates (as found by the numerical model). Group difference in drag was explained by a larger trunk angle for COC. Both groups improved from their preferred to their best position, due to reductions in thigh and leg angle.