The Olympics are a beautiful two weeks that happen every other year for a number of reasons. It brings the world together for friendly competition, it showcases the best-of-the-best in the world of sports, and it also shines light on sports that often don’t get as much attention.
Ski jumping would fall into this particular category.
While the sport itself is other-worldly in terms of risk and extreme measures, it doesn’t get the same mainstream attention as other sports worldwide. Sure, there are areas where it is more popular than others, but most countries would agree that there are other sports more prominently in the spotlight than the sport that sends jumpers hundreds of feet through the air with nothing more than a couple skis and a ton of faith in themselves.
So when the Olympics come around, we get to know some of the world-class athletes that we may not otherwise be exposed to.
In the lead up to the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games, we wrote a story about the Jaromir Jagr of Ski Jumping – the ageless Noriaki Kasai.
Kasai will be competing in his 8th Olympic Games, which is an incredible feat considering the top-form your body must be in to compete at such a high level – particularly in physically demanding sports such as ski jumping. While Kasai has never been a superstar, he has definitely gained the love and respect from around the ski jumping community.
What makes Kasai so great isn’t just that he’s 45 years old and preparing for his record-breaking 8th Olympics, it’s that he literally isn’t even thinking this is his last. He originally planned to go until he was 50 years old, but now with a potential 2026 Olympic bid set for Sapporo, his native city in Japan, he is thinking he may even push retirement off until the conclusion of those Games.
The following is a excerpt and translation from the Japanese Times:
“When I reached 40, I decided I would call it quits when I turned 50. But now Sapporo, my birthplace, is [potentially] bidding for the 2026 Games. I will be 54 by that time, but it is too big a chance to give up.”
This is a heartwarming story of a man continuing to chase his dreams of Olympic gold, but Kasai isn’t the only ski jumper going viral ahead of the Olympics.
The Finnish ski jumping team was captured pulling of a Whose-Line-Is-It-Anyway style intro when they were given their introductory headshots.
The goofy frown, to smile, to stone-face progression was obviously choreographed and has won its way into the hearts of Winter Olympics fans. It also helps that the first two look approximately a decade and a half younger than the third, seemingly unimpressed jumper. The third jumper that looks like he could will a dagger into your head is Janne Ahonen, who is in fact much older than the first two jumpers at the age of 40 (still five years younger than Kasai), and he has enjoyed success in previous Olympic games by winning two medals for the Scandinavian country.
Ahead of the games we will continue to monitor the eccentric bunch of ski jumpers, we’re sure this isn’t the end of the line.
(H/T Reddit Funny)
