Toni Nieminen

Toni Markus Nieminen (born 31 May 1975) is a Finnish former ski jumper who competed from 1991 to 2004, with a brief comeback in 2016. He is one of the most successful ski jumpers from Finland, having won both the World Cup overall title and the Four Hills Tournament in 1992, and three medals at the 1992 Winter Olympics. He remains the youngest ever Winter Olympic gold medalist, at 16 years and 261 days.[1] Additionally, he is known for being the first male ski jumper to land a jump surpassing 200 metres (660 ft), which he achieved in 1994 with a world record of 203 m (666 ft) on the ski flying hill in Planica.

Toni Nieminen
Country Finland
Full nameToni Markus Nieminen
Born (1975-05-31) 31 May 1975
Lahti, Finland
Personal best203 m (666 ft)
Planica, 17 Mar 1994
World Cup career
Seasons1991–1999
2001–2003
Individual wins9
Team wins1
Indiv. podiums12
Team podiums3
Indiv. starts96
Team starts3
Overall titles1 (1992)
Four Hills titles1 (1992)
Medal record
Men's ski jumping
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1992 Albertville Individual LH
Gold medal – first place 1992 Albertville Team LH
Bronze medal – third place 1992 Albertville Individual NH
Updated on 19 June 2017.

Career

Nieminen's biggest success came in his first World Cup season in 1991/92. At the time, the transition from the parallel style to the V-style was taking place and Nieminen was one of the first to master the new technique.

Nieminen took his first World Cup victory in Thunder Bay, in December 1991. Then he went on to win the Four Hills Tournament with 3 victories and one 2nd place. At the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, Nieminen won the large hill and the Team large hill, placing third in the normal hill. In the World Cup, Nieminen took a total of 8 victories securing also the overall title. Additionally, Nieminen won the World Junior Championship in both the Individual and the Team competitions. Nieminen was chosen as the Finnish Sports Personality of the Year 1992.

In the following seasons, Nieminen showed only glimpses of his great talent. In 1994, he became the first ever ski jumper to break the 200 metre barrier at Planica, with a world record of 203 m. Out of his total of 9 individual World Cup victories, only one came after the 1991/92 season, in Kuopio 1995. In World Cup team competitions, Nieminen scored one victory, in Villach 2001.

After retiring from ski jumping in 2004, Nieminen has worked as a sports commentator for Finnish MTV3. He has also competed as a driver in harness racing.

Nieminen made a comeback on 30 January 2016 finishing 17th in normal hill Finnish championship. Nieminen said that his target is to make a comeback to the World Cup.

World Cup

Standings
Season Overall 4H SF NT JP
1990/91 ———N/AN/A
1991/92 1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)—N/AN/A
1992/93 50——N/AN/A
1993/94 52—7N/AN/A
1994/95 11831N/AN/A
1995/96 93——N/A—
1996/97 9256——89
1997/98 67——2863
1998/99 —69———
2000/01 21153749N/A
2001/02 3133N/A—N/A
2002/03 54—N/A—N/A

Wins
No. Season Date Location Hill Size
1 1991/921 December 1991  Canada Thunder BayBig Thunder K90NH
2 29 December 1991  Germany OberstdorfSchattenbergschanze K115LH
3 4 January 1992  Austria InnsbruckBergiselschanze K109LH
4 6 January 1992  Austria BischofshofenPaul-Ausserleitner-Schanze K120LH
5 29 February 1992  Finland LahtiSalpausselkä K90NH
6 1 March 1992  Finland LahtiSalpausselkä K114LH
7 11 March 1992  Norway TrondheimGranåsen K120LH
8 15 March 1992  Norway OsloHolmenkollbakken K110LH
9 1994/951 February 1995  Finland KuopioPuijo K90 (night)NH

Ski jumping world record

First standing jump over 200 metres in history.

Date Hill Location Metres Feet
17 March 1994   Velikanka bratov Gorišek K185 Planica, Slovenia 203 666

References
  1. "Toni Nieminen - Youngest Winter Olympic Champion". Olympic Games. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
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