For many years, the collection of data on the epidemiology of injuries and illnesses in team and individual sports at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as at other major world championships (including football, basketball, handball, and athletics), has significantly contributed to the knowledge needed for the prevention of injuries and illnesses and, thereby, to the protection of athlete health.

In skiing, such studies have so far been primarily conducted in alpine disciplines. For the Nordic disciplines (cross-country skiing, ski jumping, and Nordic combined), which hold world championships every two years as the most important competitive events besides the Olympic Games, there are currently no published data. A closer examination of the epidemiology of injuries and illnesses in these disciplines is crucial for developing evidence-based recommendations for injury and illness prevention.