Ski jumpers are crazy or just coincidency?

[oldborn]

Ok this thing last a very long time.
As far I can remember Matti Nykänen (the greatist Finnish athlete) started with this. He won 5 Olympic medals (I am only count these) but his was wierd. His master piece was when arrested in 2004 on suspicion of attempted manslaughter and list go on;alcoholism, jail, striper etc.

Next one in my era was Andreas Goldberger, first man ever to jump over 200 metres. In 1997 Goldberger admitted to the use of cocaine, and was given a six month ban from the Austrian Ski Association, after that he get mad.

Last sunday Pavel Karelin 21-year-old Russian (great hopes of Russian ski jumping with a view to the Olympic Games 2014 in Sochi) died in a car accident in Russia, from local papers he was drunk.

Those are only ones that I can remember now, but the list is huge.
So Q is; are ski jumpers are really that crazy or those young guys just can not deal with it.

Or just coincidency?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

What do you think makes a young kid go "I'm going to hurtle myself down a ramp and dive headfirst down a 45º incline in mid-air knowing that any slight mistake and I suffer potentially disastrous injury, oh and I have to land on some very long and flat things that, if not landed straight, will cause me to wipe out", and that kid's parents to go "Yes! This is what we want our son (or daughter, though they can't go pro) doing! This is a fun, wholesome hobby!".

Ski jumpers are crazy.

 

[Bavarianrider]

The problem is their nutrition.
As they have to be very light to be competitive they have to eat very little.
Jumping down those huge ramps is very very chasllenging. Both mentally as well as physically. It drains out the body. In combination with the little food they have that can become very dangerous and it is the reason why get mad or ill in some kind of way.

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

Ski jumpers are the only ones in the world who use cocaine or get drunk?

No, but they get the publicity. Cyclists have used cocaine (Boonen), gotten busted for drunk driving (Ullrich), etc. Plus athletes of almost every other sport and lots and lots of ordinary people.

Susan

 

[Kvinto]

i find it entertaining to watch, but once i stood on the take-off ramp (it happened on summer and i was just curious to take a look at what a ski jumper sees before he goes down the ramp) i was scared.

 

[spalco]

Those are only ones that I can remember now, but the list is huge.
So Q is; are ski jumpers are really that crazy or those young guys just can not deal with it.

I don't know much about Nykänen and Karelin but in the case of Goldberger it was definitely the latter; he became very famous and I'm guessing rich (as much as you can in a fringe sport like ski jumping anyway) at a young age, after having grown up in a small town in a rural area, with very little noticable education, no life experience whatsoever and probably also not a whole lot going on in his head in general. That's a recipe for trouble.

I don't think ski jumpers are crazy (I doubt the sport is more dangerous than any other actually), but I doubt it's a sport that's especially attractive to more intelligent athletes...

 

[Rouetheday]

Ski jumpers are the only ones in the world who use cocaine or get drunk?

No, but they get the publicity. Cyclists have used cocaine (Boonen), gotten busted for drunk driving (Ullrich), etc. Plus athletes of almost every other sport and lots and lots of ordinary people.

Susan

Something you want to get off your chest, Susan?

 

[Bavarianrider]

I don't know much about Nykänen and Karelin but in the case of Goldberger it was definitely the latter; he became very famous and I'm guessing rich (as much as you can in a fringe sport like ski jumping anyway) at a young age, after having grown up in a small town in a rural area, with very little noticable education, no life experience whatsoever and probably also not a whole lot going on in his head in general. That's a recipe for trouble.

I don't think ski jumpers are crazy (I doubt the sport is more dangerous than any other actually), but I doubt it's a sport that's especially attractive to more intelligent athletes...

 

[spalco]

That's just my impression of most of the top ski jumpers. There are always exceptions of course. And I think the same about cycling too for example.

And German football coach Hans Meyer once said:
"In every roster there are five really stupid players. One of them would definitely be sleeping under a bridge if he didn't play football."

That's true too.

 

[oldborn]

Once I was at Planica, dudes and ladies that is basically DH course without corners or gravel, I doubt I would get down with DH bike

@spalco I remember Goldberger declared he would compete under the flag of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia back in 1997 after ban, well that was bad idea at that time, same as he choose to sign for North Korea or something IMHO

Well there is lot of other sports with those things but those guys are wildest IMHO.

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

Something you want to get off your chest, Susan?

Nope. Neither of those have ever applied to me.

I just dislike the theory of "this one group of people is totally unique with their problems, aren't they horrible people" -- whether it is ski jumpers or anyone else.

I stood at the top of the Olympic jump at Calgary and thought, no way. I walked down part of the bob run and thought, no way. I watch the Tour de France and think, no way.

Susan

 

[Bavarianrider]

That's just my impression of most of the top ski jumpers. There are always exceptions of course. And I think the same about cycling too for example.

And German football coach Hans Meyer once said:
"In every roster there are five really stupid players. One of them would definitely be sleeping under a bridge if he didn't play football."

That's true too.

Yep most defenitly.
I was just suprised that you asume that skijumpers would be more stupid in average then other sportsmen. don't see why thiss hould be the case.

 

[spalco]

@spalco I remember Goldberger declared he would compete under the flag of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia back in 1997 after ban, well that was bad idea at that time, same as he choose to sign for North Korea or something IMHO

Yes, he even paraded around his new Serbian passport on Austrian tv, didn't make him especially popular.
People forgave him quickly though.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Igamgine an athlete who looks like this. And they are not that skinny cause they woudl try that much endurance. They just have to eat very little. Glad they introduced the BMI Index. But it's still way too low.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Wiggins Roubaix picture or Chicken Rasmussen shirtless picture appears in 3... 2...

 

[oldborn]

Wiggins Roubaix picture or Chicken Rasmussen shirtless picture appears in 3... 2...

1

 

[Thomsena]

I don't think ski jumpers are crazy (I doubt the sport is more dangerous than any other actually)

Nope. Don't think so either. They are never that high up in the air as it might look like. But going down that ramp with great speed would make me say 'thanks, but no thanks.' nevertheless.

 

[MrMaillot]

To be honest, from what I've seen from people I know, it tends to be the opposite. The sane ones are riding Motocross Bikes or Sailing, which are more dangerous than what the insane ones do, such as Hockey (The Proper One, not that Ice Rubbish ) and Athletics. However, that may be biased because people think I'm mad and I do sports which I wouldn't classify as dangerous.

 

[Martin318is]

Sounds pretty much the same as footballers to me (ANY code - AFL, NFL, NRL, or - god forbid - actual football).

Seriously though, no different to most sportspeople in codes where certain things are not tested. Once the sport goes under the microscope the stories start to dry up (or become more sensational).

 

[meat puppet]

Nykänen's place in the Pantheon of modern Finnish folklore was cemented in this full length movie about him. Also the yellow press basically has him on the payroll for being himself, ie. wreaking havoc. It's sometimes easy to forget the guy is among the best skijumpers ever.

I think he just went back to jail not a week ago. Can't remember why.

But yeah, without generalising too much, hurling oneself into the air at 100kph might benefit from, say, having an acquired taste for things.