Simon AMMANN

Prior to the 2002 Olympics, only ski jumping followers had heard of Simon Ammann. Although he had placed a credible 6th at that year’s Four Hills Tournament, he had yet to win a major competition. In Salt Lake City, he surprised everybody by winning both the normal and the large hill events, which only Matti Nykänen had managed to before him. Known as a “Harry Potter look-alike”, Ammann was rocketed into stardom, but could not follow up his Olympic titles with other success until 2007, when he won the large hill event at the Sapporo World Championships, and placed second in the normal hill. In the World Cup circuit, he has won three competitions, and placed third in the 2006/2007 season.