Matti Nykänen

Matti Nykänen
Matti Nykänen in January 2014
Country	Finland
Full name	Matti Ensio Nykänen
Born	(1963-07-17) 17 July 1963 Jyväskylä, Finland
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Personal best	191 m (627 ft) Planica, 15 Mar 1985
World Cup career
Seasons	1981–1991
Individual wins	46
Indiv. podiums	76
Yellow bibs	62
Indiv. starts	143
Overall titles	4 (1983, 1985, 1986, 1988)
Four Hills titles	2 (1983, 1988)
Medal record Men's ski jumping Olympic Games 1984 Sarajevo Individual NH 1988 Calgary Individual NH 1988 Calgary Individual LH 1988 Calgary Team LH 1984 Sarajevo Individual LH FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1982 Oslo Individual LH 1984 Engelberg Team LH 1985 Seefeld Team LH 1987 Oberstdorf Team LH 1989 Lahti Team LH 1987 Oberstdorf Individual NH 1982 Oslo Team LH 1985 Seefeld Individual LH 1989 Lahti Individual LH Men's ski flying FIS Ski Flying World Championships 1985 Planica Individual 1990 Vikersund Individual 1983 Harrachov Individual 1986 Bad Mitterndorf Individual 1988 Oberstdorf Individual
Updated on 10 February 2016.

Matti Ensio Nykänen ( pronunciation ) (born 17 July 1963) is a Finnish former ski jumper who won five Olympic medals (four gold), nine World Championship medals (five gold) and 22 Finnish Championship medals (13 gold).

Most notably, Nykänen won three gold medals at the 1988 Winter Olympics, becoming, along with Yvonne van Gennip of the Netherlands, the most successful athlete at that event. Nykänen is the only ski jumper in history to have won all five of the sport's major competitions: a gold medal in the Winter Olympics (three times), the World Championships (once), the Ski Flying World Championships (once), four overall World Cup titles, and the Four Hills Tournament (twice).

Since the 1990s, his status as a celebrity has mainly been fueled, not by his sporting achievements, but instead by his colourful personal relationships, his career as a singer, and various incidents often related to heavy use of alcohol and violent behavior. He was sentenced to jail for 26 months following a stabbing incident in 2004, and again for 16 months after aggravated assault on his wife in 2009.^[1]

Career

Nykänen on a postage stamp

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 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 (Only topped by record-holder Gregor Schlierenzauer, Austria) and won the overall title four times (also a record, currently shared with Adam Małysz POL). He won the prestigious Four Hills Tournament twice.^[2] He competed in the FIS Ski Flying World Championships five times and placed in the medals every time. Nykänen also won the ski jumping competition at the Holmenkollen ski festival twice (1982, 1987). In 1987, Nykänen was awarded the Holmenkollen Medal (shared with Hermann Weinbuch).^[3]

On 28 February 2008, he won the International Masters Championship, the world title for veterans.

World Cup

Standings

Season	Overall	SF	4H
1980/81	26	N/A	–
1981/82	4	N/A	11
1982/83	01 !	N/A	01 !
1983/84	02 !	N/A	03 !
1984/85	01 !	N/A	02 !
1985/86	01 !	N/A	–
1986/87	6	N/A	65
1987/88	01 !	N/A	01 !
1988/89	9	N/A	02 !
1989/90	19	N/A	16
1990/91	–	–	–

Wins

No.	Season	Date	Place	Hill	Size
1	1981/82	30 Dec 1981	Oberstdorf	Schattenbergschanze K-110	LH
2		28 Feb 1982	Oslo	Holmenkollbakken K-105	LH
3		12 Mar 1982	Tauplitz	Kulm K-165	FH
4	1982/83	18 Dec 1982	Cortina d’Ampezzo	Trampolino Olimpico Italia K-92	NH
5		4 Jan 1983	Innsbruck	Bergiselschanze K-104	LH
6		15 Jan 1983	Lake Placid	MacKenzie Intervale K-114	LH
7		16 Jan 1983	Lake Placid	MacKenzie Intervale K-114	LH
8		23 Jan 1983	Thunder Bay	Big Thunder K-120	LH
9		18 Feb 1983	Vikersund	Vikersundbakken K-155	FH
10		19 Feb 1983	Vikersund	Vikersundbakken K-155	FH
11		20 Feb 1983	Vikersund	Vikersundbakken K-155	FH
12		27 Feb 1983	Falun	Lugnet K-112	LH
13		26 Mar 1983	Planica	Bloudkova srednja K-90	NH
14	1983/84	18 Feb 1984	Sarajevo	Igman Olympic Jumps K-112	LH
15		2 Mar 1984	Lahti	Salpausselkä K-88	NH
16		4 Mar 1984	Lahti	Salpausselkä K-113	LH
17		17 Mar 1984	Oberstdorf	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze K-182	FH
18		18 Mar 1984	Oberstdorf	Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze K-182	FH
19	1984/85	4 Jan 1985	Innsbruck	Bergiselschanze K-109	LH
20		9 Feb 1985	Sapporo	Miyanomori K-90	NH
21		1 Mar 1985	Lahti	Salpausselkä K-88	NH
22		10 Mar 1985	Oslo	Holmenkollbakken K-105	LH
23		23 Mar 1985	Štrbské Pleso	MS 1970 B K-88	NH
24		24 Mar 1985	Štrbské Pleso	MS 1970 A K-114	LH
25	1985/86	11 Jan 1986	Harrachov	Čerťák K-120	LH
26		17 Jan 1986	Klingenthal	Aschbergschanze K-102	LH
27		25 Jan 1986	Sapporo	Miyanomori K-90	NH
28		26 Jan 1986	Sapporo	Ōkurayama K-112	LH
29		1 Mar 1986	Lahti	Salpausselkä K-90	NH
30		2 Mar 1986	Lahti	Salpausselkä K-113	LH
31		22 Mar 1986	Planica	Bloudkova srednja K-90	NH
32	1986/87	7 Dec 1986	Thunder Bay	Big Thunder K-120	LH
33		1 Mar 1986	Lahti	Salpausselkä K-88	NH
34		8 Mar 1987	Falun	Lugnet K-112	LH
35	1987/88	5 Dec 1987	Thunder Bay	Big Thunder K-89	NH
36		6 Dec 1987	Thunder Bay	Big Thunder K-120	LH
37		19 Dec 1987	Sapporo	Miyanomori K-90	NH
38		20 Dec 1987	Sapporo	Ōkurayama K-115	LH
39		1 Jan 1988	Garmisch-Partenkirchen	Große Olympiaschanze K-107	LH
40		4 Jan 1988	Innsbruck	Bergiselschanze K-109	LH
41		6 Jan 1988	Bischofshofen	Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze K-111	LH
42		20 Jan 1988	St. Moritz	Olympiaschanze K-94	NH
43		4 Mar 1988	Lahti	Salpausselkä K-90	NH
44		6 Mar 1988	Lahti	Salpausselkä K-114	LH
45	1988/89	17 Dec 1988	Sapporo	Miyanomori K-90	NH
46		1 Jan 1989	Garmisch-Partenkirchen	Große Olympiaschanze K-107	LH

Personal life

Nykänen has been married several times:

• Tiina Hassinen (1986–1988), one son^[4]
• Pia Hynninen (1989–1991), one daughter^[4]
• Sari Paanala (1996–1998)^[4] (Nykänen changed his surname to Paanala during this marriage^[5])

Relationship with Mervi Tapola

Nykänen met millionaire sausage heiress Mervi Tapola in 1999,^[4] and they were married from 2001 to 2003.^[6] They were divorced in 2003, and remarried in 2004.^[6] This marriage was tempestuous and gave rise to many well-publicised incidents: The first reported assault against Tapola occurred in June 2000, following which a restraining order was imposed upon Nykänen.^[6] In 2004, Nykänen was handed a suspended sentence for assaulting Tapola again. Nykänen had already been accused of assaulting Tapola in 2001, but the charges were withdrawn because Tapola exercised her right to remain silent.^[7]

In September 2005, while on probation for another assault, Nykänen was re-arrested four days after his release for again abusing his partner. Nykänen was convicted again and imprisoned for four months on 16 March 2006; Soon after that he stabbed a man in a pizza restaurant in Korpilahti.^[7] In the summer of 2009 Tapola (then Tapola-Nykänen) petitioned for divorce a 14th time, but cancelled it.^[8]

On Christmas Day 2009 Nykänen allegedly injured his wife with a knife and tried to throttle her with a bathrobe belt. He was charged for attempted manslaughter and held in custody by Tampere police,^[7] but was released on 28 December after charges were dropped for insufficient evidence. On 24 August 2010 Nykänen was convicted of grievous bodily harm and sentenced to 16 months in jail^[1] and ordered to pay 5,000 euros in compensation to his wife for pain and emotional suffering, and 3,000 euros for legal expenses.^[9] In August 2010 Tapola made a 15th request for divorce.

Assault incident

On 24 August 2004, Matti Nykänen was arrested on suspicion of attempted manslaughter of a family friend after losing a finger pulling competition^[10] in Tottijärvi, Nokia.^[11] He was found guilty of aggravated assault and sentenced to a 26-month jail term in October 2004.^[1] As it was a first offence, he was released from jail in September 2005.

As an entertainer

When Nykänen's ski jumping career was drawing to a close, a group of businessmen proposed to make him a singer. His first album Yllätysten yö was released in 1992 and sold over 25,000 copies.^[12] Nykänen became the second Olympic gold medalist after Tapio Rautavaara to be awarded a golden record in Finland. The 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 exploitation of Nykänen.^[13]

In 2002 Nykänen made a comeback as a singer and released the single "Ehkä otin, ehkä en". He also gave his name to a cider brand with the same advertisement slogan.^[14] In 2006 Nykänen released his third studio album Ehkä otin, ehkä en.^[15] Most of his musical career Nykänen has worked with professional musician Jussi Niemi. Nykänen has toured Finland performing 2 to 3 times a week with the Samurai ensemble led by Niemi.^[16]

Many of Nykänen's singles are 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 ('Maybe I did [drink], maybe I didn't').

In November 2009 Nykänen began to present his own cooking web series Mattihan se sopan keitti.

Discography

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

Biographies

• A movie about the life of Matti Nykänen simply called Matti was released in 2006, with Finnish actor Jasper Pääkkönen cast as Nykänen. The movie concentrated on Nykänen's exploits beyond the ski-jumping hills.

Books

• Matti Nykänen, Päivi Ainasoja and Manu Syrjänen: Mattihan se sopan keitti (2007)^[17]
• Juha-Veli Jokinen: Missä me ollaan ja oonko mäkin siellä (2007)^[17]
• Juha-Veli Jokinen: Elämä on laiffii (2006)^[17]
• Kai Merilä: Matin ja minun rankka reissu (2005)^[17]
• Egon Theiner: Grüsse aus der Hölle (2004)^[17][18] (the English version of the book Greetings from Hell was published in January 2006)
• Antero Kujala: Voittohyppy (1999)^[17]
• Antti Arve: Matti Nykänen Maailman paras (1988)^[17]
• Kari Kyheröinen and Hannu Miettinen: Takalaudasta täysillä: Matti Nykäsen tie maailmanhuipulle (1984)^[17]
• Juha-Veli Jokinen: Myötä- ja vastamäessä (2010)^[17]

Cultural references

• In 1988 DPR Korea issued a postage stamp depicting Matti Nykänen in the flight during competition.

References

• Matti Nykaenen at the International Ski Federation

Finnish

• Official website

Norwegian

• Holmenkollen medalists – click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file
• Holmenkollen winners since 1892 – click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file

External links

• Media related to Matti Nykänen at Wikimedia Commons