Simon Ammann

Simon Ammann (/ˈsiːmɒn/; born 25 June 1981) is a Swiss ski jumper. He is one of the most successful athletes in the history of the sport, having won four individual Winter Olympic gold medals in 2002 and 2010. His other achievements include winning the 2007 Ski Jumping World Championships, the 2010 Ski Flying World Championships, the 2010 Nordic Tournament, and the 2010 Ski Jumping World Cup overall title.

Simon Ammann
Ammann in 2011
CountrySwitzerland
Born (1981-06-25) 25 June 1981
Grabs, Switzerland
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Ski clubSSC Toggenburg
Personal best239.5 m (786 ft) National record
Vikersund, 2017
World Cup career
Seasons1998–present
Individual wins23
Indiv. podiums80
Indiv. starts484
Team starts53
Overall titles1 (2010)
Nordic titles1 (2010)
Medal record
Representing   Switzerland
Men's ski jumping
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 4 0 0
World Championships 1 1 2
Ski Flying World Championships 1 0 0
Total 6 1 2
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2002 Salt Lake City Individual NH
Gold medal – first place 2002 Salt Lake City Individual LH
Gold medal – first place 2010 Vancouver Individual NH
Gold medal – first place 2010 Vancouver Individual LH
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
Gold medal – first place 2007 SapporoIndividual LH
Silver medal – second place 2007 SapporoIndividual NH
Bronze medal – third place 2009 LiberecIndividual NH
Bronze medal – third place 2011 OsloIndividual LH
Men's ski flying
FIS Ski Flying World Championships
Gold medal – first place2010 PlanicaIndividual
Updated on 2 April 2023.

Career

Ammann made his debut at the age of 16 during the 1997–98 FIS Ski Jumping World Cup season. He qualified for the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan, where he finished 35th.

Before the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Ammann crashed and suffered injuries during training in Willingen. Despite this, he won a gold medal in both the individual normal hill and large hill competitions, being only the second athlete to accomplish this feat (Matti Nykänen having done so in 1988). During the Olympics, Ammann gained international attention not only for his victories but also for his youthful and bespectacled appearance on the podium that many compared to Harry Potter.[2] In addition to acquiring Swiss stardom he also made appearances on American talk shows, such as the Late Show with David Letterman (on 20 February 2002).

Ammann also won the ski jumping event at the Holmenkollen Ski Festival in 2002 and 2007. This earned him the Holmenkollen medal in 2007 (shared with Frode Estil, Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset, King Harald V, and Queen Sonja of Norway).

He made his third Olympic appearance in 2006 in Turin, Italy.

On 24 February 2007, he won his first medal at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships with a victory in the Individual Large Hill in Sapporo, Japan. Ammann would follow this with a silver medal in the Individual Normal Hill the following week. Ammann would complete his set of medals with a bronze medal in the Individual Normal Hill event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec, Czech Republic.

In 2010, competing in his fourth Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Ammann won the gold medal in the Individual Normal Hill event. He became the first man in Olympic history to win gold medals in the Individual Normal Hill event in two Olympics.

On 20 February 2010, he also won a gold medal in the Individual Large Hill event at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, thus becoming the first man to win gold medals in both individual ski jumping events in two Olympic games, as well as the most decorated Swiss Olympic athlete of all time. His first jump was 144 meters. His second jump was 138 meters.

In March 2010, Ammann became the overall winner of 2009–10 FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, winning all four events at the Nordic Tournament and nine World Cup events in one season overall. He finished the season by becoming the ski flying World Champion in Planica on the largest hill in the world. His 236.5 m fourth round jump was the longest jump of the event and then the second longest jump in history.

He won his most recent gold medal on the FIS World Cup circuit in December 2013. He was selected as flag-bearer of the Swiss Winter Olympics team in Sochi, Russia, in February 2014.

The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi were disappointing for Ammann. He called a news conference, and there was a lot of buzz that he would announce his retirement. However, he merely talked about how it was too early to decide.

On 6 January 2015, Ammann was injured on his second-round jump in Bischofshofen during the final stage of the 2014–15 Four Hills Tournament. His representation has since stated that his condition is stable, with the most damage being to his face. The Four Hills tournament was a tough outing overall for Ammann, as he also fell in the first round in Oberstdorf.

Ammann also competed in the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics, with his best finish being eleventh place in the normal hill event in 2018.[3]

World Cup

Standings
Season Overall 4H SF RA NT JP
1997–98 7048—N/A—67
1998–99 —63—N/A——
1999–00 4570—N/A—45
2000–01 ———N/A—N/A
2001–02 76N/AN/A4N/A
2002–03 2824N/AN/A13N/A
2003–04 1314N/AN/A3rd place, bronze medalist(s)N/A
2004–05 2337N/AN/A27N/A
2005–06 1713N/AN/A21N/A
2006–07 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)N/AN/A3rd place, bronze medalist(s)N/A
2007–08 915N/AN/A20N/A
2008–09 2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)N/A3rd place, bronze medalist(s)N/A
2009–10 1st place, gold medalist(s)53rd place, bronze medalist(s)N/A1st place, gold medalist(s)N/A
2010–11 2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)5N/AN/AN/A
2011–12 11193rd place, bronze medalist(s)N/AN/AN/A
2012–13 142710N/AN/AN/A
2013–14 73rd place, bronze medalist(s)4N/AN/AN/A
2014–15 1117—N/AN/AN/A
2015–16 151115N/AN/AN/A
2016–17 29442411N/AN/A
2017–18 19291112N/AN/A
2018–19 2413136N/AN/A
2019–20 3527—32N/AN/A
2020–21 4147—N/AN/AN/A
2021–22 41374035N/AN/A
2022–23 47—3225N/AN/A

Wins
No. Season Date Location Hill Size
1 2001–0217 March 2002  Norway OsloHolmenkollbakken K115LH
2 2006–072 December 2006  Norway LillehammerLysgårdsbakken HS134LH
3 18 March 2007  Norway OsloHolmenkollbakken HS128LH
4 2008–0929 November 2008  Finland KuusamoRukatunturi HS142LH
5 7 December 2008  Norway TrondheimGranåsen HS140LH
6 13 December 2008  Italy PragelatoStadio del Trampolino HS140LH
7 20 December 2008  Switzerland EngelbergGross-Titlis-Schanze HS137LH
8 29 December 2008  Germany OberstdorfSchattenbergschanze HS137LH
9 2009–106 December 2009  Norway LillehammerLysgårdsbakken HS138LH
10 18 December 2009  Switzerland EngelbergGross-Titlis-Schanze HS137LH
11 20 December 2009  Switzerland EngelbergGross-Titlis-Schanze HS137LH
12 17 January 2010  Japan SapporoŌkurayama HS134LH
13 3 February 2010  Germany KlingenthalVogtland Arena HS140LH
14 7 March 2010  Finland LahtiSalpausselkä HS130LH
15 9 March 2010  Finland KuopioPuijo HS127LH
16 12 March 2010  Norway LillehammerLysgårdsbakken HS138LH
17 14 March 2010  Norway OsloHolmenkollbakken HS134LH
18 2010–111 January 2011  Germany Garmisch-PartenkirchenGroße Olympiaschanze HS140LH
19 22 January 2011  Poland ZakopaneWielka Krokiew HS134LH
20 13 March 2011  Finland LahtiSalpausselkä HS130LH
21 2013–1429 December 2013  Germany OberstdorfSchattenbergschanze HS137LH
22 2014–1528 November 2014  Finland KuusamoRukatunturi HS142LH
23 29 November 2014  Finland KuusamoRukatunturi HS142LH

Personal life

Simon Ammann was born in Grabs, Switzerland to Margit and Heinrich Ammann and raised in Unterwasser, Switzerland. He has two brothers and three sisters. He married Yana Yanovskaya in 2010.[4]

See also

References
  1. "Simon Ammann – Player Profile". eurosport.com. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  2. "Swiss 'Harry Potter' takes flight". 15 February 2002. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  3. "AMMANN Simon – Athlete Information – Olympic Winter Games". fis-ski.com. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  4. "Simon Ammann's biography". FIS. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
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