Other names: NYKÄNEN, Matti

Born: 17 July 1963

Birthplace: Jyväskylä (Finland)

Nationality: Finland

Sport: Skiing

ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES

Sarajevo 1984

Calgary 1988

AWARDS

Olympic medals:

Gold: 4

Silver: 1

Other results:

World Championships

Gold: 4 (82, 85, 87, 89)

Silver: 1 (87)

Bronze: 3 (82, 85, 89)

Ski Jump Sweep

In 1984 Matti Nykänen of Jyväskla put together two near-perfect jumps to win the large hill event by the largest margin in Olympic history (17.5 points). He also earned a silver medal on the normal hill. In Calgary Nykänen won the normal hill event by a decisive 17 points and then won the large hill by 16.5 points.

This earned him a place in the record books as the first ski jumper to win two gold medals at the same Olympics. In 1988, for the first time, a third jumping event was added to the programme: the large hill team event. Nykänen led the Finnish team to victory and brought his career total to four gold medals and one silver medal.