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sallycinnamon

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I really like Ryoyu, hope he keeps doing great! If he managed to get the 4HT grand slam, that would make two slams happening in two consecutive years (after Stoch did it last season), which is quite something, considering it's only been accomplished twice ever.

 

Of course I'm always cheering the most for the Polish guys (still 2nd and 3rd in WC ranking), but if someone is to be ahead of them, I'm happy it's Ryoyu :D 

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And the last stage of 4hills is off to a difficult start (or not really off to any start as of now) - today's qualifications were cancelled and moved to tomorrow due to heavy snowfall in Bischofshofen. Well, at least it looks pretty over there :P Apparently the forecast for tomorrow is slightly better, so hopefully the competition will happen.

 

 

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51 minutes ago, liv said:

So strange... I watched ski jumping in the 80s and early 90s and Finland was always on top... sports go through cycles,  but still, so unusual for me to see since I haven't watched in years... but anyway, congrats on a great achievement!!!!! 

 

Unfortunately, ski jumping in Finland seems to have fallen on hard times. There hasn't really been anyone exceptional since Matti Hautamäki and Janne Ahonen (in his better days - he had still competed until last season, but with poor results). They do have some competitors, but nobody who really shines. I heard there are issues with funding and so on, which is sad, considering their tradition in this sport.

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19 minutes ago, Sombreuil said:

@Rainna my earliest memory of watching ski jump was as a child - Sapporo and Fortuna- had a soft spot for the Polish jumpers ever since

 

That's very nice to hear! Sapporo happened quite a few years before I was born, but Fortuna's win is still remembered and his name is still dropped every now and then during TV broadcasts. Although in general, it's actually the recent years that have been the best age of Polish ski jumping in history. Hopefully it stays this way :fingerscrossed:

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Oh, Finland and our ski jumpers! It has been kind of our national duty to follow ski jumping and it has turned very sad story lately. I was too little to follow Matti Nykänen´s career, I only know him as he is now, which is really sad. You can check his English wikipedia page for updates. Just read "personal life"-section and you get the picture.

My own memories begin with Toni Nieminen. He won olympic gold at the age of sixteen. He became a national hero, there were parties, sponsors, media and screaming fan girls. It was too much too soon for him, and his time at the top was kind of short. Later he has been very open about his mental health issues, financial troubles and later divorce. Right now he seems to be doing much better in his life.

Matti Hautamäki was very private person during his career and later he became the train driver (I don´t know the proper term, but he drives the trains at the Finnish railways).

My personal favorite is Janne Ahonen. I just read a very good article about him where he sums up his later career. He has been doing ski jumping just for fun for many years now as his son is also a ski jumper. This summer his son was leaving for national summer competition and asked him to come along. Janne jumped also and won the competition. He was offered the spot for the national team but he turned it down. Maybe this story tells how talented he is as a ski jumper or maybe it tells about the sad state of the sport in Finland at this moment, I don´t know. He has always liked to make the jump suits and he has developed successful little business around it.

When Ahonen was on the top form I followed ski jumping very closely, but now my interest has moved to other sport (obviously). After the doping scandal in cross-country skiing in 2001, the Finnish ski federation lost some major sponsor deals and the financial trouble did affect on also ski jumping. Cross-country skiing was able to rise again but ski jumping has been doing poorly ever since and nobody seems to know why.

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23 hours ago, lajoitko said:

Oh, Finland and our ski jumpers! It has been kind of our national duty to follow ski jumping and it has turned very sad story lately. I was too little to follow Matti Nykänen´s career, I only know him as he is now, which is really sad. You can check his English wikipedia page for updates. Just read "personal life"-section and you get the picture.

My own memories begin with Toni Nieminen. He won olympic gold at the age of sixteen. He became a national hero, there were parties, sponsors, media and screaming fan girls. It was too much too soon for him, and his time at the top was kind of short. Later he has been very open about his mental health issues, financial troubles and later divorce. Right now he seems to be doing much better in his life.

Matti Hautamäki was very private person during his career and later he became the train driver (I don´t know the proper term, but he drives the trains at the Finnish railways).

My personal favorite is Janne Ahonen. I just read a very good article about him where he sums up his later career. He has been doing ski jumping just for fun for many years now as his son is also a ski jumper. This summer his son was leaving for national summer competition and asked him to come along. Janne jumped also and won the competition. He was offered the spot for the national team but he turned it down. Maybe this story tells how talented he is as a ski jumper or maybe it tells about the sad state of the sport in Finland at this moment, I don´t know. He has always liked to make the jump suits and he has developed successful little business around it.

When Ahonen was on the top form I followed ski jumping very closely, but now my interest has moved to other sport (obviously). After the doping scandal in cross-country skiing in 2001, the Finnish ski federation lost some major sponsor deals and the financial trouble did affect on also ski jumping. Cross-country skiing was able to rise again but ski jumping has been doing poorly ever since and nobody seems to know why.

 

Thank you for all the information, very interesting to read, even if it's always sad to hear when sports heroes turn to a much less admirable way of life... :( 

I remember Nieminen, though - he was still around when I started following ski jumping as a kid. And I always did have a soft spot for Ahonen and his non-smiling ways. :D Maybe we'll hear about his son someday, then. Either way, I hope Finnish ski jumping can have a revival somewhere down the road.

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