The Gundersen method is a method in the Nordic combined

Nordic combined

The Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in both cross-country skiing and ski jumping.- History :While Norwegian soldiers are known to have been competing in Nordic skiing since the 19th century, the first major competition in Nordic combined was held in 1892 in Oslo at the...

 developed by Gunder Gundersen

Gunder Gundersen

Gunder Gundersen was a Norwegian nordic combined skier and sports official. During his active career he won two individual FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medals and the Holmenkollen ski festival three times Gunder Gundersen (September 12, 1930 — June 2, 2005) was a Norwegian nordic combined...

, a Nordic combined athlete from Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, that was first used in the 1980s. This technique turned the cross country skiing part of the Nordic combined from a point-based system where all athletes ski in an interval start

Time trial

In many racing sports an athlete will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. In cycling, for example, a time trial  can be a single track cycling event, or an individual or team time trial on the road, and either or both of the latter may form components of...

 manner and whoever earned the most points with the ski jumping

Ski jumping

Ski jumping is a sport in which skiers go down a take-off ramp, jump and attempt to land as far as possible down the hill below. In addition to the length of the jump, judges give points for style. The skis used for ski jumping are wide and long...

 part of the Nordic combined won the event to a pursuit

Pursuit racing

Pursuit racing is where two or more competitors are either chasing after each other or chasing after a lead competitor or team.The modern pentathlon is formatted such that the final event, a cross-country run, is essentially a pursuit race. Athlete performance in the prior four events determines...

 race for the cross country skiing part where whoever crossed the finish line first in the cross country skiing part of the Nordic combined event won the competition. This parallels the modern pentathlon

Modern pentathlon

The modern pentathlon is a sports contest that includes five events: pistol shooting, épée fencing, 200 m freestyle swimming, show jumping, and a 3 km cross-country run...

 in which the start times of the final event (a cross-country run) are also staggered so that the first to cross the finish line is the winner of the entire event.

Initially put in at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1985 and at the 1988 Winter Olympics

1988 Winter Olympics

The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in and around Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 13 to 28 February 1988. The host was selected in 1981 after having beat Falun, Sweden and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy...

, the event point-time differential has been adjusted at every Winter Olympics. The table below is one point difference at the ski jump equaliing a specific number of seconds between skiers or teams at the start of the cross country portion of the event.

Winter Olympic Games	Individual (includes 7.5 km sprint)	Team
1988 1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in and around Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 13 to 28 February 1988. The host was selected in 1981 after having beat Falun, Sweden and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy...	6.7	5
1992 1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 8 to 23 February 1992 in Albertville, France. They were the last Winter Olympics to be held the same year as the Summer Olympics, and the first where the Winter Paralympics...	6.7	5
1994 1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Lillehammer failed to win the bid for the 1992 event. Lillehammer was awarded the games in 1988, after having beat...	6.5	5
1998 1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice...	6	3
2002 2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...	5	1.5
2006 2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...	4	1
2010 2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...	4	1.33