Honour for ‘Flying Finn’

Press, 25 February 1988, Page 32

Honour for ‘Flying Finn’

Ski jumping

NZPA-Reuter

NZPA-Reuter Calgary Matti Nykaenen tamed Calgary’s awesome 90metre ski jumping hill yesterday to clinch his second gold medal of the Winter Games and claim a place of honour in Olympic history. The man dubbed the “Flying Finn” looked as if he could soar right out of the Canada Olympic Park stadium as he launched himself to an opening leap of 118.5 metres, four metres ahead of the field and a hill record. His breathtaking first jump left his competitors to fight for the right to be called the best of the rest. That battle was won by Erik Johnsen of Norway who claimed the silver medal and Matjaz Debelak of Yugoslavia took the bronze. “After the first jump I knew I would win,” Nykaenen said. “I just took it easy on the second.”

His . 107-metre final jump was enough to give him a total of 224.0 points and an enormous winning margin of 16.1. Nykaenen, aged 24, broke a string of records. He became the first jumper to win on the 70 and 90-metre hills at the same Games, the first to retain a 90-metre Olympic title and the first to gain three gold medals. He could be writing history again today when he leads the powerful Finnish team in the inaugural 90-metre Olympic 'team event. After more than a week of frustration caused by strong crosswinds, ski jumping was able to resume amid a carnival atmosphere. A full house of 52,000 watched and cheered as the event went ahead in perfect weather conditions — bright sunshine and barely a breeze.