Jens Weißflog

Jens Weißflog (German pronunciation: [jɛns ˈvaɪ̯sˌfloːk], audio ; born 21 July 1964) is a 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 Austrian Gregor Schlierenzauer have won more World Cup victories.

Jens Weißflog
Jens Weißflog during the East German Championships in Oberwiesenthal, East Germany in January 1989
Country East Germany (1980–90)
 Germany (1990–1996)
Born (1964-07-21) 21 July 1964
Erlabrunn, Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt, 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
Individual wins33
Team wins1
Indiv. podiums73
Team podiums6
Indiv. starts191
Team starts9
Overall titles1 (1984)
Four Hills titles4 (1984, 1985, 1991, 1996)
Medal record
Men's ski jumping
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 3 1 0
World Championships 2 3 4
Ski Flying World Championships 0 1 1
Total 5 5 5
Olympic Games
1984 SarajevoIndividual NH
1994 LillehammerIndividual LH
1994 LillehammerTeam LH
1984 SarajevoIndividual LH
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
1985 Seefeld Individual NH
1989 Lahti Individual NH
1984 Engelberg Team LH
1989 Lahti Individual LH
1995 Thunder Bay Team LH
1985 Seefeld Team LH
1991 Val di Fiemme Individual LH
1991 Val di Fiemme Team LH
1993 Falun Individual LH
Men's ski flying
FIS Ski Flying World Championships
1985 PlanicaIndividual
1990 VikersundIndividual
Updated on 10 February 2016.

Career

Weißflog was born in Erlabrunn (now a part of Breitenbrunn, Saxony) in the Erzgebirge range.

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. 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.

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).

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 —110N/AN/A
1982/83 16N/AN/A
1983/84 N/AN/A
1984/85 4N/AN/A
1985/86 1622N/AN/A
1986/87 117N/AN/A
1987/88 6N/AN/A
1988/89 N/AN/A
1989/90 6N/AN/A
1990/91 819N/A
1991/92 3839—N/A
1992/93 11—N/A
1993/94 —N/A
1994/95 61214N/A
1995/96 484

Wins
No. Season Date Location Hill Size
1 1982/836 January 1983   BischofshofenPaul-Ausserleitner-Schanze K109LH
2 1983/841 January 1984   Garmisch-PartenkirchenGroße Olympiaschanze K107LH
3 4 January 1984   InnsbruckBergiselschanze K106LH
4 6 January 1984   BischofshofenPaul-Ausserleitner-Schanze K111LH
5 11 January 1984   Cortina d’AmpezzoTrampolino Italia K92NH
6 15 January 1984   LiberecJeštěd A K115LH
7 12 February 1984   SarajevoIgman K90NH
8 24 March 1984   PlanicaSrednja Bloudkova K90NH
9 1984/851 January 1985   Garmisch-PartenkirchenGroße Olympiaschanze K107LH
10 17 February 1985   EngelbergGross-Titlis-Schanze K120LH
11 1986/876 December 1986   Thunder BayBig Thunder K89NH
12 1987/8824 January 1988   EngelbergGross-Titlis-Schanze K120LH
13 1988/8922 January 1989   OberhofRennsteigschanze K90NH
14 5 March 1989   OsloHolmenkollbakken K105LH
15 8 March 1989   ÖrnsköldsvikParadiskullen K82NH
16 25 March 1989   PlanicaSrednja Bloudkova K90NH
17 26 March 1989   PlanicaBloudkova velikanka K120LH
18 1989/9017 December 1989   SapporoŌkurayama K115LH
19 1 January 1990   Garmisch-PartenkirchenGroße Olympiaschanze K107LH
20 17 January 1990   ZakopaneWielka Krokiew K116LH
21 1990/9130 December 1990   OberstdorfSchattenbergschanze K115LH
22 1 January 1991   Garmisch-PartenkirchenGroße Olympiaschanze K107LH
23 1993/9412 December 1993   PlanicaBloudkova velikanka K120LH
24 14 December 1993   PredazzoTrampolino dal Ben K90 (night)NH
25 30 December 1993   OberstdorfSchattenbergschanze K115LH
26 22 January 1994   SapporoMiyanomori K90NH
27 23 January 1994   SapporoŌkurayama K115LH
28 5 March 1994   LahtiSalpausselkä K90NH
29 27 March 1994   Thunder BayBig Thunder K90NH
30 1994/9529 January 1995   LahtiSalpausselkä K114LH
31 1995/966 January 1996   BischofshofenPaul-Ausserleitner-Schanze K120LH
32 20 January 1996   SapporoMiyanomori K90NH
33 17 February 1996   Iron MountainPine Mountain K120LH

References
Awards
Preceded by
Uwe Hohn		 East German Sportsman of the Year
1985		 Succeeded by
Olaf Ludwig
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