Marius Lindvik: "If you don't go 110%, you won't succeed"

Marius Lindvik used a variety of mental techniques to propel himself to large hill ski jumping gold at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Fittingly for the former DJ, music was his main tool.

“I always put on some good music, some EDM [Electronic Dance Music], a bit harder music for the warm up and stretch out a bit and prepare my body and head for the competition,” the Norwegian told Olympics.com.

“Martin Garrix is one of my favourites."

Olympics.com caught up with Lindvik ahead of the 2022 Ski Flying World Championships, which take place on home turf in Vikersund from 10-13 March, to discuss the mental techniques that helped him conquer the world.

MORE: Everything you need to know about the 2022 Ski Flying World Championships – Preview, schedule, and stars to watch

Marius Lindvik and the importance of breathing

Despite being in a rich vein of form going into the Games, the 2016 Youth Olympic Games ski jumping silver medallist was considered an outside bet just to win a medal.

Lindvik had never won a major competition, and it had been 58 years since Toralf Engan won Norway’s last large hill Olympic gold at Innsbruck 1964."

But none of this deterred the jumping prodigy.

Using music, and other mental techniques like visualisation and breathing, he launched himself into the final, two metres clear of his rivals

**“**You have to be pretty strong in the head,” the 23-year-old continued.

_“_I usually breathe deeply before I put on my skis, and just take a moment to get myself ready and get myself in the mental state that I need to be in before I jump. I then visualise the jump that I’m about to do and go for it.

_“_After take off, you know straight away if it’s a good or a bad jump. If it's good, it feels like you are getting thrown out of the take off in a slingshot.”

In the final, Lindvik launched into second position, behind Japanese normal hill Olympic champion Kobayashi Ryoyo with one jump to go.

Even the most experienced of jumpers could have crumbled under that pressure.

But the Norwegian brushed off the enormity of the situation to execute a flawless final jump and seal the gold medal.

On top of Kobayashi, he had beaten a legendary line-up including the likes of Simon Ammann, Peter Prevc, Robert Johansson, Kamil Stoch and Stefan Kraft.

“My first Olympic memory was watching Simon Amman win the Olympic gold medal [at Vancouver 2010] on TV when I was a kid,” the Sorum native said.

“It felt amazing. These are all people I've been looking up to since I was a kid. It's just insane that, uh, that I managed to stay on top and beat them.

How Lindvik spends his downtime is another indicator that he is the master of controlling his mindset. 

One look at his Instagram page portrays what would be likely expected of a ski jumper: an adrenaline-seeking athlete that enjoys motorbikes.

But he also knows when to rest, and counts gaming as his favourite pastime outside of sport.

_“_I would say I'm actually a pretty calm and shy guy. Not the guy that speaks out the loudest,” he admitted.

_“_I have thought about skydiving, but when I'm home, I usually play a lot of games.

“I just started playing League of Legends with some of my friends. In the Norwegian team me and Daniel [Andre Tande] play a lot together.”

Next up for Lindvik is the 2022 Ski Flying World Championships in Vikersund from 10-13 March.

The hills used are far bigger than those in Olympic ski jumping resulting in jumps way in excess of 200m.

So what mindset will the large hill Olympic champion be adopting for the more extreme format of the sport?

“You have to have the mentality that if you don't go for it, you're going to achieve nothing. You won't succeed,” Lundvik said.

“You have to go one hundred and ten percent, in order to achieve the things you want.

“You have to stay strong and keep on fighting and then you will get the results.”

Words of wisdom from the young Olympic champion that are surely as true of life, as they are of ski jumping.