His Retirement Plan Is 120K

Alan Alborn is giving up flying to take up flying. The United States’ leading hope for a Olympic ski jumping medal finished a disappointing 34th Wednesday in the 120-meter individual competition--his best event--then stunningly announced his retirement from the sport.

At the age of 21.

Alborn essentially said he wants to get a life after being forced into a nomadic existence for the last six years, starving himself to excel at the sport, and having no friends his own age. After years of such sacrifices, Alborn said he hopes to attend college and become a commercial jet pilot. He has expressed similar sentiments before.

“I think it’s time for me,” Alborn said. “This is not something I want to do for four more years.”

As Alborn spoke, the final jumpers in the big hill competition at Utah Olympic Park were provoking roars from the crowd of 20,469 under bright sunshine on a brisk day.

Simon Ammann, 20, of Switzerland, repeated his shocking performance of Sunday in the 90-meter hill for a second gold medal. Ammann, whose winning score was 281.4, had never even won a World Cup event. Adam Malysz of Poland took silver, scoring 269.7, and Matti Hautameki of Finland won bronze at 256.0.

“I am trembling,” Amman said. “I can’t believe it. I am the champion.”

Alborn, meanwhile, could not follow up his exceptional jumping during qualifying. On Tuesday, he turned in the eighth-best score on the big hill, which is somewhat akin to jumping off a 12-story building using a mini-parachute. Sunday, he finished 11th overall on the normal hill. And earlier this season Alborn three times placed in the top six on the World Cup circuit. He expected better Wednesday.

“I’m a little bit shocked,” he said. “It’s pretty disappointing.”

Few American ski jumpers have made as significant an impact on the world scene as Alborn, who was regarded as the herald of a brighter future since peak years--Ammann’s showing notwithstanding--in the sport are generally regarded as mid-to-late 20s. Clint Jones, 17, of Steamboat Springs, Colo., was 42nd, the only other American to make it out of qualifying.

Alborn had blunt words for the state of U.S. ski jumping. “The level is pretty poor,” he said, criticizing teammates as not being serious enough. “You just have to want it.”

Ski jumpers are scored on a combination of distance achieved and form in the air. Alborn, who owns a small prop plane that he keeps in Alaska, where he grew up, has always said he loved the feeling of ski jumping because it is like flying.

Wednesday began reasonably well. He recorded the 15th best practice jump. However, unpredictable winds swirled at the top of the jump. Ski jumpers prefer a headwind because it keeps them higher longer.

Tailwinds force jumpers down more quickly and Alborn caught a tailwind. His jump was only 105.4 meters, compared with Ammann’s 140.5, but it wasn’t immediately apparent how it would affect him.

Alborn shook his head as he exited the enclosure at the base of the hill. “With that wind at that speed, you lose a good quarter of your lift,” he said. He expected his next jump to be better, only there never was a next jump. He didn’t make the 30-man finals.

“Alan just wasn’t on today,” U.S. Coach Kari Yliantilla said. “Every athlete has a bad day.”

That was before Alborn said he would retire. He will compete in the team jumping event Monday and expects to enter a few more international competitions this winter, but that’s it, he said.

Alborn always seems calm--his only outward sign of colorful expression is dyeing his hair bright yellow--and his demeanor was the same as usual while discussing both his bad jumping and retirement.

He insisted this is no quickie decision sparked by frustration. His parents, Mary and David Alborn, wanted him to quit after the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, he said.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” he said. “[The Salt Lake Games] is pretty much the whole reason I kept ski jumping since Nagano.”

But as firm as Alborn sounded in his commitment to a lifestyle that doesn’t include ski jumping, Yliantilla believes the comments were driven by his poor showing.

“I knew [retirement] was on his mind,” Yliantilla said, “but it is not the best thing to say after a bad competition.”

He said he is sure Alborn wouldn’t have made any such statements Wednesday if he had jumped well. More than an hour later, Alborn waffled slightly, saying he may reevaluate after the season.

Alborn is from Anchorage, where he was introduced to ski jumping on a beginner’s hill while in elementary school. He left home at 15 to develop his talent and has been on the road ever since. He took correspondence courses and hasn’t been in a classroom for five years. Before he can even choose a college, he believes he will need some tutoring.

Another annoyance for him is the pressure jumpers face to stay light.

Alborn is 5-foot-11 and weighs 128 pounds for the Games. Ski jumpers have come under scrutiny lately for eating habits that include meals of diet soda and rice. Alborn said he would like to be free to eat favorites like his mother’s moose stroganoff.

He laughed when it was suggested he might be found in an all-you-can-eat buffet line come spring.

That, he said, is the kind of thing ex-ski jumpers do. “There’s a lot of guys who get kind of out of control,” Alborn said.

Almost everything Alborn said indicated that he wants to get his life back in control.