Every few years, the Olympics roll around to prove that, yes, the world’s best athletes can jump farther, swim faster, and generally crush records that would’ve been impossible just a few decades ago. Take ski jumping - the world record has increased by well over 200 meters in fewer than 100 years. Responsible for this is a lot of intentional engineering of equipment and hills, but perhaps the biggest change is thanks to one act of human daring. Watch to find out how!

Further reading:

Olympics.com
https://olympics.com/en/news/look-to-...
https://olympics.com/en/beijing-2022/...

Ski Jumping Hill Archive
http://www.skisprungschanzen.com/EN/S...

The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...

Sports Medicine
https://www.researchgate.net/publicat...

The International Ski Federation
https://assets.fis-ski.com/image/uplo...

Scientific American
https://www.jstor.org/stable/24965846

Smithsonian Science Education Center
https://ssec.si.edu/stemvisions-blog/...

Sports Engineering [journal]
https://link.springer.com/article/10....

USA Nordic Sport
https://usanordic.org/ski-jumping-the...

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