Kazuyoshi Funaki

(born 27 April 1975) is a Japanese former ski jumper. He ranked among the most successful sportsmen of its discipline, particularly in the 1990s. Funaki is known for his special variant of the V-style, in which the body lies flatter between the skis than usual.

Career Funaki began ski jumping at the age of eleven. His birthplace Yoichi is also the home of Yukio Kasaya, who was a Japanese national hero with his Normal Hill victory in the 1972 Winter Olympics at Sapporo. Kasaya was also Funaki's role model.

Funaki had his first World Cup appearance on December 20, 1992 in Sapporo. His first World Cup victory was achieved on December 10, 1994 in the normal hill at Planica, Slovenia. Several weeks later, he was leading the Four Hills Tournament in total tour points after the third event. In the second part of the last event at Bischofshofen, he had the longest jump of 131.5 meters, but fell during the landing - and the overall tour victory went to Austrian Andreas Goldberger, and Funaki finished second.

Altogether Funaki won 15 World Cup career victories, his last on February 5, 2005 at Sapporo. He achieved his best results in the 1997/98 season with a second rank in the World Cup rankings. In that season he also won the Four Hills Tournament.

In 1997, Funaki won the ski jumping event at the Holmenkollen ski festival. He also won the FIS Ski-Flying World Championships 1998 in Oberstdorf.

The high point of his career was in the 1998 Winter Olympic Games at Nagano. In front of his local crowd, Funaki won the individual gold medal on the individual large Hill, which was the first Olympic ski jumping gold for Japan since 1972, the team large hill gold medal, and the individual normal hill silver medal behind the Finn Jani Soininen. During those games, he became only the second person to ever achieve perfect marks from all five judges (20 points is the highest attainable mark), following Toni Innauer who had achieved this masterpiece already in 1976 and preceding Sven Hannawald (2003), Hideharu Miyahira (2003) and Wolfgang Loitzl (2009). In honor of these achievements, he represented Asia in carrying the Olympic Flag during the opening ceremonies of the next Winter Olympics, in Salt Lake City.

At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, he became the world champion of the individual normal hill in 1999 at Ramsau, Austria. And together with the Japanese team, he placed 2nd in the Team large hill in 1997, 1999 and 2003.

For his ski jumping successes, Funaki received the Holmenkollen medal in 1999.

While he does not compete in World Cup or Continental Cup events, Funaki still takes part in local Japanese competitions. In March 2019 he finished 10th and 42nd in FIS Race events in Sapporo.

World Cup

Standings Season Overall1992/93 — — — N/A N/A1994/95 4 7 N/A N/A 1995/96 33 28 19 N/A 39 1996/97 10 4 1997/98 8 4 1998/99 4 5 4 1999/00 14 13 9 14 13 2000/01 30 46 40 — N/A 2001/02 11 25 N/A 9 N/A 2002/03 30 33 N/A 34 N/A 2003/04 40 44 N/A 39 N/A 2004/05 30 52 N/A 57 N/A 2008/09 63 — — — N/A 2009/10 — — — — N/A 2010/11 58 — — N/A N/A 2011/12 — — — N/A N/A

Wins No. Season Date Location Hill Size1 1994/95 10 December 1994 Planica Srednja Bloudkova K90 NH2 4 January 1995 Innsbruck Bergiselschanze K110 LH3 1996/97 14 December 1996 Harrachov Čerťák K120 LH4 4 January 1997 Innsbruck Bergiselschanze K110 LH5 12 March 1997 Kuopio Puijo K95 (night) NH6 14 March 1997 Oslo Holmenkollbakken K112 LH7 1997/98 29 December 1997 Oberstdorf Schattenbergschanze K115 LH8 1 January 1998 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze K115 LH9 4 January 1998 Innsbruck Bergiselschanze K110 LH10 25 January 1998 Oberstdorf Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze K185 FH11 21 March 1998 Planica Bloudkova velikanka K120 LH 12 1998/99 10 January 1999 Engelberg Gross-Titlis-Schanze K120 LH13 24 January 1999 Sapporo Ōkurayama K120 LH14 6 March 1999 Lahti Salpausselkä K90 (night) NH15 2004/05 5 February 2005 Sapporo Ōkurayama HS134 (night) LH