Jens Weißflog facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Jens Weißflog |
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Jens Weißflog (2017)
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| Country |  East Germany (1980–90) Germany (1990–1996) |
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| Born | 21 July 1964 Erlabrunn, East Germany |
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| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal best | 201 m (659 ft) Kulm, 9–11 February 1996 |
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| World Cup career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seasons | 1981 1983–1996 |
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| Individual wins | 33 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team wins | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiv. podiums | 73 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team podiums | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiv. starts | 191 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team starts | 9 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall titles | 1 (1984) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Four Hills titles | 4 (1984, 1985, 1991, 1996) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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| Updated on 10 February 2016. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jens Weißflog (born July 21, 1964) is a famous former ski jumper from East Germany and later Germany. He is known as one of the most successful ski jumpers in the history of the sport. Jens won many big titles, including Olympic gold medals and World Championships.
Contents
Jens Weißflog's Amazing Career
Jens Weißflog was born in Erlabrunn, a town in Saxony, Germany. He was nicknamed "Floh," which means "flea" in German. This was because he was small and light, which can be helpful in ski jumping.
Early Success and Olympic Wins
When he was just 19 years old, Jens won the important Four Hills Tournament in 1983/84. In the same winter, he also won the overall FIS Ski Jumping World Cup. He then went on to win a gold medal in the normal hill event at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.
The next winter, Jens often competed against the amazing Finnish ski jumper Matti Nykänen. They had many exciting competitions.
Adapting to New Styles
What makes Jens's career special is that he stayed at the top level for twelve years! He continued to succeed even when his home country, East Germany, changed to a unified Germany in 1990. Also, the way ski jumpers jumped changed a lot around 1993. Skiers used to jump with their skis parallel, but then they started using the "V-style." Jens learned this new style and kept winning.
In 1994, ten years after his first Olympic win, he won two more gold medals at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. He won in the individual large hill and the team large hill events. During the team event, there was a moment when Jens celebrated early, before the last jumper from Japan had finished. The Japanese jumper did not perform well, and Germany ended up winning the gold. This showed how important it is to wait until the very end of a competition.
Jens finished his career in 1996. He became the first ski jumper to win the Four Hills Tournament four times! Only Janne Ahonen from Finland has won it more times (five times). Jens also came in second place five times in this competition. After these great achievements, he stopped competing professionally.
World Championship Medals
Jens Weißflog also won many medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. He earned two gold medals in the individual normal hill in 1985 and 1989. He also won three silver medals and four bronze medals in different events.
He also won two medals at the FIS Ski Flying World Championships: a silver in 1985 and a bronze in 1990. Jens also won the ski jumping competition at the Holmenkollen ski festival twice, in 1989 and 1990. In 1991, he received the Holmenkollen medal, which is a special award for athletes who have achieved great things in Nordic skiing.
Life After Ski Jumping
Today, Jens Weißflog owns a hotel in his hometown of Oberwiesenthal. He also works as a main ski jump commentator for the German TV station ZDF. This means he helps explain the sport to viewers, sharing his expert knowledge.
Images for kids
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Jens Weißflog in 2017
See also
In Spanish: Jens Weißflog para niños
