Ski jumping opens at Milan Cortina 2026 with the women’s individual normal hill competition, which is being contested for only the fourth time at the Olympics since it debuted in Sochi in 2014.

The number of athletes competing increased by 10 since the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Fifty jumpers will be flying off the 109-meter (approximately 367-foot) hill in Predazzo during the first round. Thirty of them will advance to the final round.

Here’s a look at some of the skiers who might ascend the medals podium on Saturday, Feb. 7. The podium is open for newcomers, with a number of medal favorites out of contention. 

The 2022 gold medalist, Ursa Bogataj of Slovenia, suffered a season-ending left knee injury after the Beijing Games. She later announced her retirement in February 2025.

Austrian Marita Kramer, the overall 2022 World Cup winner, retired in September 2025. That same month, her fellow countrywoman, Eva Pinkelnig, the overall 2023 World Cup winner, Canadian Alexandria Loutitt and Japan’s Haruka Kasai all tore an ACL at the Summer Grand Prix event at Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium. None of them are competing at Milan Cortina 2026.

The heavy favorite to win gold in the individual normal hill event is Slovenia’s Nika Prevc, who will be making her Olympic debut. She has had an impressive run in the leadup to Milan Cortina 2026. She placed first in both the normal and large hill events at the 2025 World Championships and clinched her third consecutive overall Two Nights Tour title in January. Prevc has won 14 individual World Cup events of the 26 in which she’s competed in since September.

She comes from a family of ski jumping heavy hitters. Her two older brothers, Peter and Cene Prevc, are retired ski jumpers who won Olympic medals in Beijing. Her third older brother, ski jumper Domen Prevc, will also be making his Olympic debut this year in Italy. He’s a podium favorite in the men's individual large hill event. If Nika or Domen Prevc earn a medal, the Prevc family will be just the third family in Olympic history to have three or more siblings each earn a medal at a Winter Olympics.

Japan’s Sara Takanashi is the most successful athlete in women’s ski jumping history, posting 54 wins out of 97 finishes in the individual normal hill event. Despite a staggering 55-percent win rate, Takanashi has been unable to mirror that success at the Olympics. Her best finish is a bronze medal at PyeongChang in 2018. Takanashi placed 4th in the event at both Sochi in 2014 and Beijing in 2022.

Takanashi’s team member, Nozomi Maruyama, also has a shot at an Olympic medal. She has been on the podium at 15 of her 23 World Cup starts since November.

After placing eighth in Beijing in 2022, Austrian Lisa Eder heads into her second Winter Olympics with her sights on gold. Her trajectory is promising. She took second in five individual normal hill World Cup events in January — her best World Cup season yet.

“The Olympics are always something special, and I’m glad it’s finally starting,” Eder said of competing at Milan Cortina 2026 after her incredible World Cup results. “I think with the crowd here on the first day, it will be amazing with a real buzz.”

Germany’s Selina Freitag and Katharina Schmid are both returning to the Winter Olympics stage. Freitag has reached the individual normal hill World Cup podium three times since Christmas. Schmid, a two-time silver medalist in this event, is still a medal contender. But this season she notched her fewest World Cup wins since 2020.

In Beijing, the U.S. earned just one quota spot. Four years later, Americans Annika Belshaw, Josie Johnson and Paige Jones earned three quota spots, tripling the United States' shot at a first medal in this event.

Watch Prevc and the American women take off when the women’s individual normal hill event begins at 12:45 p.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 7, on NBCOlympics.com and Peacock.