Matti Nykänen

Matti Ensio Nykänen (; 17 July 1963 – 4 February 2019) was a Finnish ski jumper who competed from 1981 to 1991. Known as "The Flying Finn", he is one of the most successful ski jumpers of all time, having won five Winter Olympic medals (four gold), nine World Championship medals (five gold), and 22 Finnish Championship medals (14 gold). He died in 2019 at the age of 55, suffering from chronic pancreatitis.

Ski jumping career

For most of the 1980s, Nykänen and Jens Weißflog of East Germany dominated the sport. Nykänen won gold and silver at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. His 17.5-point gold medal victory was the largest margin of victory in Olympic ski jumping history at the time. He was also the first ever to win gold medals on both hills at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.

In 1985 he flew 191 metres in Planica, a world record that stood briefly until Piotr Fijas (Poland) flew 194 metres, again in Planica, in 1987. His other achievements include a total of nine medals (five golds) at the World Championship level. He also won a total of 46 World Cup competitions (later surpassed by the current record-holder Gregor Schlierenzauer, Austria) and won the overall title four times (also a record, currently shared with Adam Małysz of Poland).

He won the prestigious Four Hills Tournament twice. He competed in the FIS Ski Flying World Championships five times and won a medal every time. Nykänen also won the ski jumping competition at the Holmenkollen Ski Festival twice (1982, 1985). In 1987, Nykänen was awarded the Holmenkollen Medal (shared with Hermann Weinbuch).

On 28 February 2008, he won the International Masters Championship for veteran ski jumpers.

The only one with five world records

On 16 March 1984, he set ski jumping world distance record on official training twice at 182 metres (597 ft). And on the next day at 185 metres (607 ft), all three in Oberstdorf, West Germany.

On 15 March 1985, he set two ski jumping world distance records on official training at 187 metres (614 ft) and at 191 metres (627 ft), both of them on Velikanka bratov Gorišek in Planica, Yugoslavia.

Olympic Games

Standings EventNormal hillLarge hillTeam 1984 Sarajevo Silver GoldN/A 1988 Calgary Gold Gold Gold

World Cup Standings Season Overall1980/81 26 — N/A1981/82 4 11 N/A1982/83 N/A1983/84 N/A1984/85 N/A1985/86 — N/A1986/87 6 65 N/A1987/88 N/A1988/89 9 N/A1989/90 19 16 N/A1990/91 — — —

Wins No. Season Date Location Hill Size1 1981/82 30 December 1981 Oberstdorf Schattenbergschanze K110 LH2 28 February 1982 Oslo (WCS) Holmenkollbakken K105 LH3 12 March 1982 Tauplitz/Bad Mitterndorf Kulm K165 FH4 1982/83 18 December 1982 Cortina d’Ampezzo Trampolino Italia K92 NH5 4 January 1983 Innsbruck Bergiselschanze K104 LH6 15 January 1983 Lake Placid MacKenzie Intervale K114 LH7 16 January 1983 Lake Placid MacKenzie Intervale K114 LH8 23 January 1983 Thunder Bay Big Thunder K120 LH9 18 February 1983 Vikersund Vikersundbakken K155 FH10 19 February 1983 Vikersund Vikersundbakken K155 FH11 20 February 1983 Vikersund Vikersundbakken K155 FH12 27 February 1983 Falun Lugnet K112 LH13 26 March 1983 Planica Srednja Bloudkova K90 NH14 1983/84 18 February 1984 Sarajevo (OWG) Igman K112 LH15 2 March 1984 Lahti Salpausselkä K88 NH16 4 March 1984 Lahti Salpausselkä K113 LH17 17 March 1984 Oberstdorf Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze K182 FH18 18 March 1984 Oberstdorf Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze K182 FH19 1984/85 4 January 1985 Innsbruck Bergiselschanze K109 LH20 9 February 1985 Sapporo Miyanomori K90 NH21 1 March 1985 Lahti Salpausselkä K88 NH22 10 March 1985 Oslo Holmenkollbakken K105 LH23 23 March 1985 Štrbské Pleso MS 1970 B K88 NH24 24 March 1985 Štrbské Pleso MS 1970 A K114 LH25 1985/86 11 January 1986 Harrachov Čerťák K120 LH26 17 January 1986 Klingenthal Aschbergschanze K102 LH27 25 January 1986 Sapporo Miyanomori K90 NH28 26 January 1986 Sapporo Ōkurayama K112 LH29 1 March 1986 Lahti Salpausselkä K90 NH30 2 March 1986 Lahti Salpausselkä K113 LH31 22 March 1986 Planica Srednja Bloudkova K90 NH32 1986/87 7 December 1986 Thunder Bay Big Thunder K120 LH33 1 March 1987 Lahti Salpausselkä K88 NH34 8 March 1987 Falun Lugnet K112 LH35 1987/88 5 December 1987 Thunder Bay Big Thunder K89 NH36 6 December 1987 Thunder Bay Big Thunder K120 LH37 19 December 1987 Sapporo Miyanomori K90 NH38 20 December 1987 Sapporo Ōkurayama K115 LH39 1 January 1988 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze K107 LH40 4 January 1988 Innsbruck Bergiselschanze K109 LH41 6 January 1988 Bischofshofen Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze K111 LH42 20 January 1988 St. Moritz Olympiaschanze K94 NH43 4 March 1988 Lahti Salpausselkä K90 NH44 6 March 1988 Lahti Salpausselkä K114 LH45 1988/89 17 December 1988 Sapporo Miyanomori K90 NH46 1 January 1989 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze K107 LH

Ski jumping world records He set five world records in total, the most of any ski jumper in history.

Personal life

Nykänen was married six times: Tiina Hassinen (1986–1988), one son Pia Hynninen (1989–1991), one daughter ) Mervi Tapola (2001–2003, remarried 2004–2010) Pia Talonpoika (2014– his death)

Relationship with Mervi Tapola Matti Nykänen's Olympic, World Championship and Finnish Medals at the Sports Museum. The collection is owned by the Finnish Sports Museum Foundation Nykänen met millionaire “sausage heiress” Mervi Tapola (1954–2019 ) in 1999, They got divorced in 2003 and remarried again in 2004.

In September 2005, while on probation for another assault, Nykänen was re-arrested four days after his release for abusing his partner again. Nykänen was convicted and imprisoned for four months on 16 March 2006. Soon after his release, he stabbed a man in a pizza restaurant in Korpilahti.

On Christmas Day 2009, Nykänen allegedly injured his wife with a knife and tried to throttle her with a bathrobe belt. He was charged with attempted manslaughter and held in custody by Tampere police, In August 2010, Tapola made a 15th request for divorce.

Assault incident On 24 August 2004, Nykänen was arrested on suspicion of attempted manslaughter of a family friend after losing a finger pulling competition in Tottijärvi, Nokia. In October 2004, he was found guilty of aggravated assault, and sentenced to 26 months in prison. Nykänen became the second Olympic gold medalist after Tapio Rautavaara to be awarded a golden record in Finland. His next album Samurai (1993), was not as successful.

At the end of the 1990s, due to serious financial problems, Nykänen worked as a stripper in a Järvenpää restaurant. The restaurateur was reproached for the exploitation of Nykänen.

In 2002, Nykänen made a comeback as a singer and released the single "Ehkä otin, ehkä en" ("Maybe I took [it], maybe I didn't"). He also gave his name to a cider brand with the same advertisement slogan. In 2006 Nykänen released his third studio album Ehkä otin, ehkä en (Maybe I took it, maybe I didn't). During most of his musical career, Nykänen worked with professional musician Jussi Niemi. Nykänen toured Finland performing two to three times a week with the Samurai ensemble led by Niemi.

Many of Nykänen's singles were named after some (in)famous quotes by Nykänen, such as Elämä on laiffii ("Life is life"), Jokainen tsäänssi on mahdollisuus ("Every chance is a possibility"), and Ehkä otin, ehkä en.

In November 2009, Nykänen began to present his own cooking web series Mattihan se sopan keitti (Matti cooked the soup).

ADHD diagnosis In the early 2000s, Nykänen was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Death Matti Nykänen died at his home in Lappeenranta, shortly after midnight on 4 February 2019, from a sudden illness, at the age of 55. He had complained of dizziness and nausea earlier that night. He had been diagnosed with diabetes less than three months earlier. The news of his death was widely reported by the media both in Finland and abroad, with many tributes also paid to him by fellow ski jumpers of his time. He was survived by his fifth wife and three children, In May 2019 Nykänen's sisters confirmed that the cause of death was pancreatitis and pneumonia.

In popular culture In 1988, DPR Korea issued a postage stamp depicting Nykänen in flight during competition. In 2016, Swedish actor Edvin Endre portrayed Nykänen, in the British biographical sports film Eddie the Eagle.

Discography Yllätysten yö (1992) Samurai (1993) Ehkä otin, ehkä en (2006)

Biographies

A film about the life of Nykänen, simply entitled Matti, was released in 2006 with Finnish actor Jasper Pääkkönen cast as Nykänen. The movie focused on Nykänen's exploits beyond ski jumping.

Books Matti Nykänen, Päivi Ainasoja and Manu Syrjänen: Mattihan se sopan keitti (2007) Juha-Veli Jokinen: Missä me ollaan ja oonko mäkin siellä (2007) (the English version of the book Greetings from Hell was published in January 2006) Antero Kujala: Voittohyppy (1999) Antti Arve: Matti Nykänen Maailman paras (1988) Kari Kyheröinen and Hannu Miettinen: Takalaudasta täysillä: Matti Nykäsen tie maailmanhuipulle (1984) Juha-Veli Jokinen: Myötä- ja vastamäessä (2010)