Matti Antero Hautamäki (; born 14 July 1981) is a Finnish 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 competed from 1997 to 2012. He is one of Finland's most successful ski jumpers, having won sixteen individual
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
competitions; multiple medals at the
Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...
,
Ski Jumping World Championships and
Ski Flying World Championships; the
Nordic Tournament
The Nordic Tournament was an annual ski jumping tournament that was a part of the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup. The tournament started in 1997 as a counterpart to the widely successful Four Hills Tournament in Germany and Austria. It is held in Marc ...
twice; and four
ski flying world records.
Career
Ski jumping
Hautamäki started ski jumping at the age of seven near his hometown of
Oulu. When his older brother
Jussi Jussi () is a male given name. In Finnish originally it is short for Juhani or Juho, Finnish for Johannes/John, but is also recognized as a name in its own right for official purposes. It can also be short for Justus, or a Finnish form of Justin.
...
and friend
Lauri Hakola moved to
Kuopio, Matti joined them. At first he found it difficult to be independent at the age of sixteen, but he received much help and support from his brother, with whom he was living at the time. The help of his new coach
Pekka Niemelä, whom he met at the sports school in Kuopio, also helped him advance quickly. In the same year Matti had his first real successes and won medals at the 1997 and 1999 FIS Junior World Ski Jumping Championships.
At the
Four Hills Tournament
The Four Hills Tournament (german: link=no, Vierschanzentournee) or the German-Austrian Ski Jumping Week (german: link=no, Deutsch-Österreichische Skisprung-Woche) is a ski jumping event composed of four World Cup events and has taken place in ...
in
2001/02, Hautamäki finished second, his highest ever place in that tournament. In
2002 and
2005 he won the Nordic Tournament, with a clean sweep of all four events in the latter. It was during the 2004–05 season that he won six individual events in a row, including the pre-
Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...
rehearsal in
Pragelato
Pragelato (also ''Pragelà''; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Prajalats'', French: Prajalats) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about west of Turin, in the upper Val Chisone. The name ''Pr ...
, and the first
ski flying
Ski flying is a winter sport discipline derived from ski jumping, in which much greater distances can be achieved. It is a form of competitive individual Nordic skiing where athletes descend at high speed along a specially designed takeoff r ...
event in
Planica
Planica () is an Alpine valley in northwestern Slovenia, extending south from the border village of Rateče, not far from another well-known ski resort, Kranjska Gora. Further south, the valley extends into the Tamar Valley, a popular hiking ...
; this matched the record for the most consecutive victories set by countryman
Janne Ahonen
Janne Petteri Ahonen (; born 11 May 1977) is a Finnish former ski jumper and drag racer. He competed in ski jumping between 1992 and 2018, and is one of the sport's most successful athletes of all time, as well as one of the most successful from ...
in the same season. Hautamäki also won the ski jumping event at the 2005
Holmenkollen Ski Festival
The Holmenkollen Ski Festival ( no, Holmenkollen skifestival or ) is a traditional annual Nordic skiing event in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway. The full official name of the event is Holmenkollen FIS World Cup Nordic.
History
It takes place in March ...
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 ...
.
Ski flying
Hautamäki was regarded as a specialist at ski flying, with the majority of his personal best distances being achieved in Planica. An early sign of things to come was showcased on
23 March 2002 when he jumped 224.5 metres, nearly equalling the then-world record of 225 m set
two years prior by
Andreas Goldberger
Andreas "Andi" Goldberger (born 29 November 1972) is an Austrian former ski jumper. He became the first man in history to jump over 200 metres in 1994, although he didn't manage to stand.
Career
He won the World Cup overall titles three times ( ...
. At the
20–23 March 2003 event, Hautamäki set three consecutive world records of , , and ; the latter making him the first to ever officially land a jump over 230 m.
"Finn breaks ski jump record"
''BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...
''. BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. 2003-03-23. Retrieved 2015-05-21. His record stood until
first jumped during the morning training round, followed by Hautamäki momentarily reclaiming the record with in the afternoon event. This was then shattered again by Romøren only minutes later, who jumped . Some minutes after that, Janne Ahonen jumped