The cross-country skiing technique would switch from classical to freestyle for all competitions beginning in 1985.

At the 1988 Winter Olympics the Gundersen method was adopted, meaning the 15 km cross country portion would go from an interval start race to a pursuit race, so that whoever crossed the finish line first won the event.

The team event with a 3 x 10 km cross country relay started at the 1988 Winter Olympics, changing to the current 4 x 5 km cross-country relay at the 1998 Winter Olympics.

Nordic combined remains a men's only event as of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

However it was decided in early-November 2016 that women's competitions were to be established at the Olympic Winter Games in 2022.