Ski jumping techniques

Developed after World War I, the technique was characterised by the athlete's upper body being bent at the hip, with arms extended at the front in the manner of a "superhero",[1] and skis held parallel to each other.

In the 1980s, Matti Nykänen created a variation of the parallel style in which the skis were pointed diagonally off to the side in order to increase surface area, essentially forming a crude "half 'V'".

In the early 1980s, Steve Collins used a modified variation of the V-style, or "delta style", with the ski tips held together in front instead of at the rear.

Although it enabled much longer jumps – up to ten per cent more than the parallel style – judges made it an issue to award poor marks to those who used it.

The V-style only became recognised as valid by judges in the early 1990s, following wins and high rankings by Jan Boklöv, Jiří Malec and Stefan Zünd, who insisted on using the technique despite receiving low style points.