James Lambert (born 21 July 1965) is a British former

ski jumper Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fina ...

who works for UK

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

TV program '' The Jump''. Lambert had most success in masters competitions. His longest jump was at the Masters World Championships in Switzerland in 2009 - only four athletes representing Great Britain have jumped further. He is one of the few British ski jumpers to win an international event - he was first in the age 45-49 Classification contest in Roznov,

Czechia The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The Cz ...

on 29 September 2012.

Early life and education

Lambert was born in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

, United Kingdom in 1965. He learned to ski at 18 years old, when he left UK in 1984 and moved to

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the O ...

, Germany. He worked as a mountain guide and ski teacher, and discovered ski jumping. He trained at the Garmish Partenkirchen Olympic Stadium until reaching the level to qualify for international competition.

Skiing career

Lambert competed for Britain throughout the 1990s to 2011. He was five times British Champion and represented Great Britain in the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 took place from 23 February to 6 March 2011
— accessed 12 March ...

held in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

at the age of 46. He competed in the Nordic combined and jumped 57m, putting him in last place ahead of the 10 km ski race and several minutes behind all the other competitors and he was given a DNF (did not finish) classification. He ended his competitive ski jumping career in 2012. Lambert was President for the Masters Ski Jumping (IMC - International Masters World Championships) from 2009 until 2012.

Television career

Lambert started his television career at the World Championships in Oslo in 2011 where he commentated live for Swedish

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, its international sports unit, it operates two ...

. In 2014, he joined the

team as ski jumping instructor for '' The Jump'' a British television series that follows celebrities as they try to master various winter sports.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, James Living people 1965 births English male ski jumpers Sportspeople from Rochdale