Skiing was born some 5,000 years ago, in Norway, as a means of hunting and travelling. But it was only in the nineteenth century that such cross-country, or Nordic, events took off as a sport - literally in the case of ski jumping, which was formally recognised in the 1860s.
Some 50 years later the first competitive Alpine event, the downhill, was staged. The more technical Alpine events, such as the super-G, have only been added in the past 30 years.
The most recent additions to skiing's range have been freestyle events, such as the moguls and aerials, which are judged on technique and style as well as speed and date from America in the late 1970s.
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