Ammann Wins at Right Time

When the last ski jumper finished and Simon Ammann understood the gold really was his, he leaped into the arms of two Swiss teammates.

With a determined but awkward effort, the two lifted Ammann on their shoulders.

“He’s light,” joked Andreas Kuettel.

“That’s why he was winning today.”

Being light is an advantage in ski jumping, but Ammann--5 feet 8 and 121 pounds--produced a heavyweight upset Sunday morning on the 90-meter hill.

Although Ammann was a 1998 Olympian in Nagano, he never had won a World Cup competition, was ranked ninth on the circuit, and a jumping fall gave him a minor head injury that sidelined him last month. Yet on a brilliant sunny day at Utah Olympic Park, Ammann relegated favorites Sven Hannawald of Germany to the silver and Adam Malysz of Poland to the bronze.

Alan Alborn of Anchorage, Alaska, was the top American, tying for 11th. Alborn, 21, who is ranked 19th in the world, said the crowd of about 19,000 was the largest for a ski jump he has seen in the U.S. “by about 100 times.”

Ammann, boyish looking, with reddish-brown hair, bounded onto the podium during a flower presentation when it was announced he had edged Hannawald by a score of 269.0 to 267.5 to win Switzerland’s first gold medal in the sport. Malysz’s score was 261.5 and Alborn’s 240.0.

Earlier in the competition, Ammann jokingly blew on his skis, as if to say they were too hot, and he high-fived the other medalists.

Ski jumping competitors are judged on a combination of distance and style. Sunday’s event encompassed two days of competition in one because Friday’s qualifying round was postponed because of high winds. Ammann only wanted to make the top 10.

“I knew [I] needed some luck,” Ammann, whose first language is German, said through a translator. “I was nervous. It’s been a dream.”

To compete, the jumpers, who wear tapered nylon foam and rubber suits, sit on a bar at the top of the steep slope. When they push off, they lean forward into a tuck, ski onto a ramp, and soar into the air, positioning their skis into a V shape. They straighten up on landing.

Ammann’s bubbly nature endeared him to the crowd and even competitors. Hannawald praised him before the final score blinked on the board.

“In the Olympics and World Championships, it’s only medals that count; not their color,” Hannawald said.

Alborn said Ammann’s result gives him hope for the 120-meter competition, which begins Tuesday.

“He came out of nowhere, basically,” Alborn said. “It’s kind of boring seeing the same guys winning every time.”

On his final jump, Ammann seemed suspended in air, but he wasn’t sure if he had traveled far enough to defeat Hannawald.

“I looked at the [score] board,” Ammann said, “and there was nothing for such a long time. Then my name appeared.”

Although Ammann said his achievement is a victory for the entire Swiss team, it was clear he still didn’t have a handle of what it means to win gold.

“All I do is ski jump, so there is no reason anyone should want autographs,” he said.