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Jens Weißflog

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German former ski jumper (born 1964)

Jens Weißflog
Jens Weißflog (2017)
Country East Germany (1980–90)
 Germany (1990–1996)
Born (1964-07-21) 21 July 1964 (age 60)
Erlabrunn, East Germany
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Personal best201 m (659 ft)
Kulm, 9–11 February 1996
World Cup career
Seasons1981
1983–1996
Indiv. starts191
Indiv. podiums73
Indiv. wins33
Team starts9
Team podiums6
Team wins1
Overall titles1 (1984)
Four Hills titles4 (1984, 1985, 1991, 1996)
Medal record
Men's ski jumping
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1984 Sarajevo Individual NH
Gold medal – first place 1994 Lillehammer Individual LH
Gold medal – first place 1994 Lillehammer Team LH
Silver medal – second place 1984 Sarajevo Individual LH
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
Gold medal – first place 1985 Seefeld Individual NH
Gold medal – first place 1989 Lahti Individual NH
Silver medal – second place 1984 Engelberg Team LH
Silver medal – second place 1989 Lahti Individual LH
Silver medal – second place 1995 Thunder Bay Team LH
Bronze medal – third place 1985 Seefeld Team LH
Bronze medal – third place 1991 Val di Fiemme Individual LH
Bronze medal – third place 1991 Val di Fiemme Team LH
Bronze medal – third place 1993 Falun Individual LH
Men's ski flying
FIS Ski Flying World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1985 Planica Individual
Bronze medal – third place 1990 Vikersund Individual
Updated on 10 February 2016.

Jens Weißflog (German pronunciation: [jɛns ˈvaɪsfloːk] ; born 21 July 1964) is an East German and later German former ski jumper. He is one of the best and most successful ski jumpers in the history of the sport. Only Finns Matti Nykänen and Janne Ahonen, Poles Adam Małysz and Kamil Stoch and Austrians Gregor Schlierenzauer and Stefan Kraft have won more World Cup victories.

He is a two time olympic and nordic world ski champion; also overall world winner.

Career

Weißflog was born in Erlabrunn (now a part of Breitenbrunn) in Saxony.

Olympics and Four Hills Tournament

As a 19-year-old he won the Four Hills Tournament for East Germany in 1983/84. Weißflog was known as "Floh" (flea in German) due to his slight stature and his light body. That same winter he won the combined World Cup and later the normal hill event at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. The following winter was dominated by Weißflog and the outstanding Finn Matti Nykänen.

The most remarkable part of his career is that he competed at the top level for twelve years. Neither the regime change from East Germany to the unified Germany in late 1990, nor the change in ski jumping techniques from the parallel technique to the V-style around 1993 stopped his success.

In 1994 he won two gold medals in the individual large hill and team large hill events at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, ten years after his first Olympic victory. Controversially, he committed one of the most unsporting acts in winter sports history, when he congratulated Japan's last team jumper with the victory, before the competition was over. The japanese failed miserably with his jump, while Weissflog did not, and thus Germany won the gold. In the next event, Weissflog was duly booed by approximately 40 000 spectators, who all regarded this former act as most unfair play, and a very dirty move. Weissflog responded by flipping the bird to the spectators, who did not warm further to him.

He finished his career in 1996 by becoming the first ski jumper to win the combined Four Hills Tournament four times. Only the Finn Janne Ahonen has surpassed that record by winning the Four Hills Tournament five times. He had also earned five-second-place finishes in the competition over the course of his career. After this achievement he retired from professional sport.

World Championships

At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, Weißflog won two golds in the individual normal hill (1985, 1989), three silvers in the individual large hill (1989) and team large hill (1984 and 1995), and four bronzes in the individual large hill (1991, 1993) and team large hill (1985 and 1991). He also won two medals at the FIS Ski Flying World Championships with a silver in 1985 and a bronze in 1990.

Weißflog also won the ski jumping competition at the Holmenkollen ski festival twice (1989, 1990). He was awarded the Holmenkollen medal in 1991 (shared with Vegard Ulvang, Trond Einar Elden, and Ernst Vettori).

Life after the career

Today, Jens Weißflog owns a hotel in his home town of Oberwiesenthal and is the main ski jump commentator for German television station ZDF.

World Cup

Standings

 Season  Overall 4H SF JP
1980/81 — 110 N/A N/A
1982/83 16 2nd place, silver medalist(s) N/A N/A
1983/84 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) N/A N/A
1984/85 4 1st place, gold medalist(s) N/A N/A
1985/86 16 22 N/A N/A
1986/87 11 7 N/A N/A
1987/88 6 2nd place, silver medalist(s) N/A N/A
1988/89 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) N/A N/A
1989/90 6 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) N/A N/A
1990/91 8 1st place, gold medalist(s) 19 N/A
1991/92 38 39 — N/A
1992/93 11 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) — N/A
1993/94 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) — N/A
1994/95 6 12 14 N/A
1995/96 4 1st place, gold medalist(s) 8 4

Wins

No. Season Date Location Hill Size
1 1982/83 6 January 1983   Austria Bischofshofen Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze K109 LH
2 1983/84 1 January 1984   West Germany Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze K107 LH
3 4 January 1984   Austria Innsbruck Bergiselschanze K106 LH
4 6 January 1984   Austria Bischofshofen Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze K111 LH
5 11 January 1984   Italy Cortina d’Ampezzo Trampolino Italia K92 NH
6 15 January 1984   Czechoslovakia Liberec Ještěd A K115 LH
7 12 February 1984   Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Sarajevo (OWG) Igman K90 NH
8 24 March 1984   Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Planica Srednja Bloudkova K90 NH
9 1984/85 1 January 1985   West Germany Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze K107 LH
10 17 February 1985   Switzerland Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze K120 LH
11 1986/87 6 December 1986   Canada Thunder Bay Big Thunder K89 NH
12 1987/88 24 January 1988   Switzerland Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze K120 LH
13 1988/89 22 January 1989   East Germany Oberhof Rennsteigschanze K90 NH
14 5 March 1989   Norway Oslo Holmenkollbakken K105 LH
15 8 March 1989   Sweden Örnsköldsvik Paradiskullen K82 NH
16 25 March 1989   Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Planica Srednja Bloudkova K90 NH
17 26 March 1989   Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Planica Bloudkova velikanka K120 LH
18 1989/90 17 December 1989   Japan Sapporo Ōkurayama K115 LH
19 1 January 1990   West Germany Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze K107 LH
20 17 January 1990   Poland Zakopane Wielka Krokiew K116 LH
21 1990/91 30 December 1990   Germany Oberstdorf Schattenbergschanze K115 LH
22 1 January 1991   Germany Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze K107 LH
23 1993/94 12 December 1993   Slovenia Planica Bloudkova velikanka K120 LH
24 14 December 1993   Italy Predazzo Trampolino dal Ben K90 (night) NH
25 30 December 1993   Germany Oberstdorf Schattenbergschanze K115 LH
26 22 January 1994   Japan Sapporo Miyanomori K90 NH
27 23 January 1994   Japan Sapporo Ōkurayama K115 LH
28 5 March 1994   Finland Lahti Salpausselkä K90 NH
29 27 March 1994   Canada Thunder Bay Big Thunder K90 NH
30 1994/95 29 January 1995   Finland Lahti Salpausselkä K114 LH
31 1995/96 6 January 1996   Austria Bischofshofen Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze K120 LH
32 20 January 1996   Japan Sapporo Miyanomori K90 NH
33 17 February 1996   United States Iron Mountain Pine Mountain K120 LH

References

FIS Ski Jumping World Cup champions
Men
Women
Olympic champions in ski jumping individual normal hill
Olympic champions in ski jumping individual large hill
Olympic champions in men's ski jumping team large hill
World champions in ski jumping individual normal hill
Four Hills Tournament winners
Holmenkollen Medal
Until 1900
1900–1950
1951–2000
Since 2001
Awards
Preceded byUwe Hohn East German Sportsman of the Year
1985 		Succeeded byOlaf Ludwig
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