Holmenkollen ski jump
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Holmenkollen ski jump, located in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway is host to the world's second oldest ski jump competition still in existence (the oldest being hosted by a small, local club named Medicinernes Skiklub Svartor in nearby Seterkollen).
Since then crowds have increased to over 100,000 and the jump has been extended 18 times, last time in 1982. Today's tower extends 60 meters above ground, and 417 metres above sea level. The current record of 136 meters was achieved by Tommy Ingebrigtsen of Norway on January 25, 2006.
Crown Prince Olav participated in 1922 and 1923. Every year, more than a million tourists visit the ski arena. The tower offers a panoramic view of Oslo and the Oslofjord.
Contents |
[edit] History
Before the Holmenkollen competitions began in 1892, there was a competition that took place at the Husebybakken that ran from 1879 to 1891. The first competition was on January 31, 1892. Watched by a crowd of 10,000, the length achieved by the winner, Svein Sollid from Morgedal in Telemark, was 21.5 meters (Sollid was also the first festival winner in the nordic combined event.). Additional events were added as shown in the Winners over the years section below.
In 1923, the Holmenkollen Ski Museum, located at the base of the ski jumping tower, opened. As of 2006, it is the oldest ski museum in the world. Its curator for many years following World War II to the mid-1980's by Jacob Vaage.
During its time as a ski arena, it has sereved as host to nine different nordic skiing and biathlon world championships, including the 1952 Winter Olympics.
The current tower dates from 1939. The ski jump has been upgraded as many as 15 times since 1939, but most of the upgrades were mainly from the 1952 Winter Olympics.
In June 2005, the Holmenkollen ski jump finished fourth in Oslo's "Structure of the Century" competition, with only 12.8% of the vote losing out to the capital's city hall.
The ski jump will serve as host to the 2011 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships after the ski jump itself goes through an overhaul. For more information, please see the Ski jump controvesey section below.
[edit] The arena
Situated around the ski jump, the Holmenkollen ski arena has hosted competitions since January 1892, where it attracted 10,000 spectators.
The Holmenkollen arena serves as a venue for cross country skiing, nordic combined (cross-country skiing and ski jumping), and biathlon (cross-country skiing and rifle shooting). Its cross country trails are of several lengths with the longest being 16.67 km for the men's 50 km cross country event whiles its biathlon competition has its longest course length of 4 km. There are thirty shooting stations in the shooting range, each with five targets, and a 150 m penalty loop adjacent to the shooting stations.
Along with Trondheim and Lillehammer, the Holmenkollen arena serves as a national and World Cup status venue of Nordic skiing. The Holmenkollen weekend, in March every year, is one of the most important annual sports events in Norway, with the men's 50 km cross-country skiing and the ski jump competition as the highlights. The ski jump competition serves as the finale in the Nordic Tournament. Holmenkollen also annually hosts biathlon world cup competitions.
As a national symbol Holmenkollen is one of Norway's most visited tourist spots, with a ski museum (opened in 1923) and the hill tower as the main attractions. The arena is served by the suburban railway Holmenkollbanen, officially part of the Oslo T-bane system. Holmenkollen station is the stop closest to the ski jump.
[edit] Holmenkollen's ski jump controversy
The Holmenkollen ski jump is one of the smallest hills in the World Cup tournament, and the International Ski Federation made it clear in September 2005 that the current hill does not meet the standards to award Oslo the 2011 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships.
Options were to spend large amounts of money updating the ski jump, demolishing the jump and building two jumping hills in its place (large and normal hill), or building two new hills and keeping Holmenkollen as a historical monument. But in December 2005, Norway's Directorate of Cultural Heritage, Nils Marstein, approved the demolition of the ski jump.
It had been revealed that in order to get Holmenkollen up to athletic requirements then NOK 310 million (USD 46 million, GBP 26.5 million) would need to be spent on it. Of this amount, at least NOK 155 million would be expected to come from the City of Oslo, however in February 2006, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen offered only NOK 70 million (USD 10 million, GBP 3.8 million). Then in March 2006 a presentation was made by Oslo officials to show what a newly rebuilt Holmenkollen Ski Jump might look like, but the price had increased to NOK 450 (USD 74 million, GBP 39 million). The City of Oslo are still only offering NOK 70 million, but Oslo Mayor Per Ditlev Simonsen and Ski Association official Rolf Nyhus are still moving forward with Holmenkollen redevelopment plans.
It was reported on the event's official website on March 23, 2006 that the ski jump (per a vote by Oslo's city parliament) would be demolished and replaced in the spring of 2007. The new ski jump will have a less steep inrun, artificial refrigeration of the inrun, a reconstructed lower part of the jump to the end of the outrun, lights for evening jumps, a new elevator for the jumpers, wind protection measures for the jumpers, new spectator grand stands, an improved loudspeaker system, and a new scoreboard. A new normal hill jump at Midstuen will also be constructed just below the ski jump as well.
The FIS awarded the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships to Oslo in May 2006 for 2011.
[edit] International championships
- 1930 - Nordic skiing World Championships
- 1952 - VI Winter Olympics (arena for Nordic skiing)
- 1966 - Nordic skiing World Championships
- 1982 - Nordic skiing World Championships
- 1986 - Biathlon World Championships (men competitions only, woman competitions held in Falun, Sweden)
- 1990 - Biathlon World Championships (together with Minsk, USSR and Kontiolahti, Finland)
- 1999 - Biathlon World Championships (together with Kontiolahti, Finland)
- 2000 - Biathlon World Championships (together with Lahti, Finland)
- 2002 - Biathlon World Championships (mass-start competition)
- 2011 - Nordic skiing World Championships
[edit] Hill records
- Men: Tommy Ingebrigtsen, Norway, 136 meter (2006)
- Women: Anette Sagen, Norway, 128 meter (2005)
[edit] Winners over the years
[edit] Current events
| Winner | Country | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Two-time winners | ||
| Paul Braaten | Norway | 1900 (30km), 1901 (30km) |
| Karl Hovelsen | Norway | 1902, 1903 |
| Sven Utterström | Sweden | 1929, 1930 |
| Nils Karlsson (Mora-Nisse) | Sweden | 1947, 1951 |
| Arto Tiainen | Finland | 1964, 1965 |
| Pål Tyldum | Norway | 1969, 1972 |
| Gerhard Grimmer | East Germany, now Germany | 1970, 1971 |
| Gunde Svan | Sweden | 1986, 1990 |
| Alexey Prokurorov | Russia | 1993, 1998 |
| Andrus Veerpalu | Estonia | 2003, 2005 |
| Three-time winners | ||
| Sverre Stensheim | Norway | 1959, 1960, 1961 |
| Oddvar Brå | Norway | 1975, 1979, 1981 |
| Thomas Wassberg | Sweden | 1980, 1982, 1987 |
| Vegard Ulvang | Norway | 1989, 1991, 1992 |
| Four-time winners | ||
| Elling Rønes | Norway | 1906 (40km), 1907, 1908, 1916 |
| Five-time winners | ||
| Lauritz Bergendahl | Norway | 1910, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915 |
| Six-time winners | ||
| Thorleif Haug | Norway | 1918, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1923, 1924 |
| Winner | Country | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Two-time winners | ||
| Stefania Belmondo | Italy | 1997, 2002 |
| Three-time winners | ||
| Larissa Lazutina | Russia | 1995, 1998, 2001 |
| Julija Tchepalova | Russia | 1999, 2004, 2006 |
| Winner | Country | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Two-time winners | ||
| Torbjørn Falkanger | Norway | 1949, 1950 |
| Bjørn Wirkola | Norway | 1966, 1967 |
| Vladmir Beloussov | Soviet Union, now Russia | 1968, 1970 |
| Ingolf Mork | Norway | 1971, 1972 |
| Matti Nykänen | Finland | 1982, 1985 |
| Jens Weissflog | East Germany, now Germany | 1989, 1990 |
| Three-time winners | ||
| Reidar Andersen | Norway | 1936, 1937, 1938 |
| Arne Hoel | Norway | 1948, 1951, 1959 |
| Four-time winners | ||
| Adam Malysz | Poland | 1996, 2001, 2003, 2006 |
| Winner | Country | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Two-time winners | ||
| Peter Angerer | West Germany, now Germany | 1984 (Individual), 1985 (Individual) |
| Frank-Peter Roetsch | East Germany, now Germany | 1985 (Sprint), 1988 (Sprint) |
| Valeriy Medvedtsev | Soviet Union, now Russia | 1986 (Individual, Sprint) |
| Viktor Maigourov | Russia | 1996 (Sprint, Pursuit) |
| Three-time winners | ||
| Frank Luck | Germany | 1999 (Pursuit), 2000 (Pursuit), 2002 (Sprint) |
| Frode Andresen | Norway | 2000 (Sprint), 2001 (Sprint, Pursuit) |
| Four-time winners | ||
| Raphaël Poirée | France | 2000 (Mass Start), 2002 (Mass Start), 2004 (Pursuit, Mass Start) |
| Five-time winners | ||
| Ole Einar Bjørndalen | Norway | 2003 (Pursuit), 2004 (Sprint), 2006 (Sprint, Pursuit, Mass Start) |
| Eight-time winners | ||
| Sven Fischer | Germany | 1995 (Individual, Sprint), 1999 (Individual, Sprint), 2001 (Mass Start), 2002 (Pursuit), 2004 (Individual, Pursuit) |
| Winner | Country | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Two-time winners | ||
| Sandrine Bailly | France | 2003 (Sprint), 2004 (Pursuit) |
| Olga Pyleva | Russia | 2004 (Sprint, Pursuit) |
| Three-time winners | ||
| Uschi Disl | Germany | 1995 (Sprint), 1996 (Sprint, Pursuit) |
| Martina Glagow | Germany | 2003 (Pursuit), 2004 (Individual), 2006 (Sprint) |
| Four-time winners | ||
| Magdalena Forsberg | Sweden | 1995 (Individual), 2000 (Pursuit), 2001 (Pursuit), 2002 (Pursuit) |
| Liv Grete Poirée | Norway | 2000 (Sprint, Mass Start), 2001 (Sprint), 2004 (Mass Start) |
| Five-time winners | ||
| Olena Zubrilova | Ukraine, Belarus since 2002 | 1999 (Individual, Sprint, Pursuit, Mass Start), 2002 (Mass Start) |
[edit] Discontinued events
| Winner | Country | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Two-time winners | ||
| Anette Sagen | Norway | 2004, 2005 |
| Three-time winners | ||
| Daniela Iraschko | Austria | 2000, 2001, 2003 |
| Winner | Country | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Two-time winners | ||
| Arne Rustadstuen | Norway | 1934, 1935 |
| Winner | Country | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Two-time winners | ||
| Hallgeir Brenden | Norway | 1956, 1963 |
| Harald Grønningen | Norway | 1960, 1961 |
| Magne Myrmo | Norway | 1970, 1972 |
| Thomas Wassberg | Sweden | 1979, 1985 |
| Three-time winners | ||
| Eero Mäntyranta | Finland | 1962, 1964, 1968 |
| Five-time winners | ||
| Juha Mieto | Finland | 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978 |
| Winner | Country | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Two-time winners | ||
| Hilkka Kuntola | Finland | 1977, 1980 |
| Three-time winners | ||
| Marjatta Kajosmaa | Finland | 1969, 1972, 1973 |
| Winner | Country | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Two-time winners | ||
| Alevtina Kolchina | Soviet Union, now Russia | 1961, 1963 |
| Klavdija Bojarskikh | Soviet Union, now Russia | 1965, 1966 |
| Toini Gustafsson | Sweden | 1967, 1968 |
| Galina Kulakova | Soviet Union, now Russia | 1970, 1979 |
| Four-time winners | ||
| Marjatta Kajosmaa | Finland | 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973 |
| Winner | Country | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Two-time winners | ||
| Brit Pettersen | Norway | 1983, 1987 |
| Anette Bøe | Norway | 1984, 1985 |
[edit] See also
- The Holmenkollen Medal, Norwegian skiing's highest award for competitors.
- Husebybakken, the precursor to the Holmenkollen event
- Winter Olympics
