Simon Ammann

Simon Ammann (/ˈsiːmɒn/; born 25 June 1981) is a Swiss ski jumper. He is one of the most successful athletes in the history of the sport, having won four individual Winter Olympic gold medals in 2002 and 2010. His other achievements include winning the 2007 Ski Jumping World Championships, the 2010 Ski Flying World Championships, the 2010 Nordic Tournament, and the 2010 Ski Jumping World Cup overall title.

Simon Ammann
Ammann in 2011
Born	(1981-06-25) 25 June 1981 (age 43) Grabs, Switzerland
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Ski club	SSC Toggenburg
Personal best	239.5 m (786 ft) Vikersund, 2017
World Cup career
Seasons	1998–present
Indiv. starts	510
Indiv. podiums	80
Indiv. wins	23
Team starts	54
Overall titles	1 (2010)
Nordic titles	1 (2010)
Medal record Representing  Switzerland Men's ski jumping Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 4 0 0 World Championships 1 1 2 Ski Flying World Championships 1 0 0 Total 6 1 2 Olympic Games 2002 Salt Lake City Individual NH 2002 Salt Lake City Individual LH 2010 Vancouver Individual NH 2010 Vancouver Individual LH World Championships 2007 Sapporo Individual LH 2007 Sapporo Individual NH 2009 Liberec Individual NH 2011 Oslo Individual LH Men's ski flying World Championships 2010 Planica Individual
Updated on 15 December 2024.

Career

Ammann made his debut at the age of 16 during the 1997–98 FIS Ski Jumping World Cup season. He qualified for the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan, where he finished 35th.

Before the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Ammann crashed and suffered injuries during training in Willingen. Despite this, he won a gold medal in both the individual normal hill and large hill competitions, being only the second athlete to accomplish this feat (Matti Nykänen having done so in 1988). During the Olympics, Ammann gained international attention not only for his victories but also for his youthful and bespectacled appearance on the podium that many compared to Harry Potter.^[2] In addition to acquiring Swiss stardom he also made appearances on American talk shows, such as the Late Show with David Letterman (on 20 February 2002).

Ammann also won the ski jumping event at the Holmenkollen Ski Festival in 2002 and 2007. This earned him the Holmenkollen medal in 2007 (shared with Frode Estil, Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset, King Harald V, and Queen Sonja of Norway).

He made his third Olympic appearance in 2006 in Turin, Italy.

On 24 February 2007, he won his first medal at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships with a victory in the individual large hill in Sapporo, Japan. Ammann would follow this with a silver medal in the individual normal hill the following week. Ammann would complete his set of medals with a bronze medal in the individual normal hill event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec, Czech Republic.

In 2010, competing in his fourth Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, Ammann won the gold medal in the individual normal hill event, becoming the first athlete in Olympic history to win gold medals in the individual normal hill event at two Olympic Games. He also won a gold medal in the individual large hill event, thus becoming the first athlete to win gold medals in both individual ski jumping events at two Olympic Games, as well as the most decorated Swiss Olympic athlete of all time.

In March 2010, Ammann became the overall winner of the 2009–10 FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, winning all four events at the Nordic Tournament and nine World Cup events in one season overall. He finished the season by becoming the ski flying World Champion in Planica. His 236.5 metres (776 ft) fourth round jump was the longest jump of the event, and also the second longest jump in history at the time.

At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, he was selected as flag-bearer for the Switzerland Winter Olympics team.^[3]

On 6 January 2015, Ammann was injured on his second-round jump in Bischofshofen during the final stage of the 2014–15 Four Hills Tournament. His representation has since stated that his condition is stable, with most of the damage being on his face.^{[citation needed]}

Ammann also competed in the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics, with his best finish being eleventh place in the normal hill event in 2018.^[4]

In February 2024, in Lake Placid, he made his 500th individual start in the World Cup.^[5]

World Cup

Standings

Season	Overall	4H	SF	RA	NT	JP
1997–98	70	48	—	N/A	—	67
1998–99	—	63	—	N/A	—	—
1999–00	45	70	—	N/A	—	45
2000–01	—	—	—	N/A	—	N/A
2001–02	7	6	N/A	N/A	4	N/A
2002–03	28	24	N/A	N/A	13	N/A
2003–04	13	14	N/A	N/A		N/A
2004–05	23	37	N/A	N/A	27	N/A
2005–06	17	13	N/A	N/A	21	N/A
2006–07			N/A	N/A		N/A
2007–08	9	15	N/A	N/A	20	N/A
2008–09				N/A		N/A
2009–10		5		N/A		N/A
2010–11			5	N/A	N/A	N/A
2011–12	11	19		N/A	N/A	N/A
2012–13	14	27	10	N/A	N/A	N/A
2013–14	7		4	N/A	N/A	N/A
2014–15	11	17	—	N/A	N/A	N/A
2015–16	15	11	15	N/A	N/A	N/A
2016–17	29	44	24	11	N/A	N/A
2017–18	19	29	11	12	N/A	N/A
2018–19	24	13	13	6	N/A	N/A
2019–20	35	27	—	32	N/A	N/A
2020–21	41	47	—	N/A	N/A	N/A
2021–22	41	37	40	35	N/A	N/A
2022–23	47	—	32	25	N/A	N/A
2023–24	52	32	—	—	N/A	N/A

Wins

No.	Season	Date	Location	Hill	Size
1	2001–02	17 March 2002	Oslo	Holmenkollbakken K115	LH
2	2006–07	2 December 2006	Lillehammer	Lysgårdsbakken HS134	LH
3		18 March 2007	Oslo	Holmenkollbakken HS128	LH
4	2008–09	29 November 2008	Kuusamo	Rukatunturi HS142	LH
5		7 December 2008	Trondheim	Granåsen HS140	LH
6		13 December 2008	Pragelato	Stadio del Trampolino HS140	LH
7		20 December 2008	Engelberg	Gross-Titlis-Schanze HS137	LH
8		29 December 2008	Oberstdorf	Schattenbergschanze HS137	LH
9	2009–10	6 December 2009	Lillehammer	Lysgårdsbakken HS138	LH
10		18 December 2009	Engelberg	Gross-Titlis-Schanze HS137	LH
11		20 December 2009	Engelberg	Gross-Titlis-Schanze HS137	LH
12		17 January 2010	Sapporo	Ōkurayama HS134	LH
13		3 February 2010	Klingenthal	Vogtland Arena HS140	LH
14		7 March 2010	Lahti	Salpausselkä HS130	LH
15		9 March 2010	Kuopio	Puijo HS127	LH
16		12 March 2010	Lillehammer	Lysgårdsbakken HS138	LH
17		14 March 2010	Oslo	Holmenkollbakken HS134	LH
18	2010–11	1 January 2011	Garmisch-Partenkirchen	Große Olympiaschanze HS140	LH
19		22 January 2011	Zakopane	Wielka Krokiew HS134	LH
20		13 March 2011	Lahti	Salpausselkä HS130	LH
21	2013–14	29 December 2013	Oberstdorf	Schattenbergschanze HS137	LH
22	2014–15	28 November 2014	Kuusamo	Rukatunturi HS142	LH
23		29 November 2014	Kuusamo	Rukatunturi HS142	LH

See also

• List of Olympic medalists in ski jumping
• List of FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in ski jumping
• List of FIS Ski Flying World Championships medalists in ski flying

References

1. "Simon Ammann – Player Profile". eurosport.com. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
2. "Swiss 'Harry Potter' takes flight". 15 February 2002. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
3. "The day when Simon Ammann became the most decorated Olympic ski jumper". olympics.com. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
4. "AMMANN Simon – Athlete Information – Olympic Winter Games". fis-ski.com. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
5. "Ski jumping World Cup returns to Lake Placid". Adirondack Daily Enterprise. 12 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.

External links

• Official website
• Simon Ammann at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
• Simon Ammann at Olympics.com
• Simon Ammann at Olympedia (archive)
• Simon Ammann at the Swiss Olympic Association (in German)

Awards and achievements
Preceded by André Bucher Didier Cuche	Swiss Sportsmen of the Year 2002 2010	Succeeded by Roger Federer Didier Cuche
Olympic Games
Preceded by Stéphane Lambiel	Flagbearer for Switzerland Sochi 2014	Succeeded by Dario Cologna