Matti Ensio Nykänen () (born 17 July 1963;
Jyväskylä,
Finland) is a
Finnish former
ski jumper who won five
Olympic medals (four gold), nine World championships medals (five gold) and 22 Finnish championships medals (13 gold). Nykänen is the only ski jumper in history to have won all five of the sport's major competitions; gold medal in the
Olympic Games (three times),
World Championships (once) and
Ski flying World Championships (once), and finished first in the
overall World Cup (four times) and
Four Hills Tournament (twice).
Since the 1990s, his status as a celebrity has mainly been fueled, not by his sporting achievements, but instead by his colourful personal relationships, his career as a singer, and various incidents often related to heavy use of alcohol and violent behaviour. He was sentenced to jail for 26 months following a stabbing incident in 2004, and again for 16 months after aggravated assault on his wife in 2009.
Ski jumping career
For most of the 1980s, Nykänen and
Jens Weißflog of
East Germany dominated the sport. Nykänen won gold and silver at the
1984 Winter Olympics in
Sarajevo. His 17.5 point gold medal victory was the largest margin of victory in Olympic ski jumping at the time. He was also the first ever to win gold medals on both hills at the
1988 Winter Olympics in
Calgary. In 1986 he flew 191 metres in
Planica, a world record that stood briefly until
Piotr Fijas (
Poland) flew 194 metres, again in Planica, in 1987. His other achievements include a total of nine medals (five golds) at the
World Championship level. He also won a total of 46 World Cup competitions (more than any other ski jumper) and won the overall title four times (also a record, currently shared with
Adam Małysz POL). He won the prestigious
Four Hills Tournament twice. He competed in the
FIS Ski Flying World Championships five times and placed in the medals every time. Nykänen also won the ski jumping competition at the
Holmenkollen ski festival twice (1982, 1987). In 1987, Nykänen was awarded the
Holmenkollen medal (shared with
Hermann Weinbuch).
In fall 2007, Matti Nykänen began practicing ski jump again after more than 10 years off from the sport. On 28 February 2008, he won the International Masters Championship, which is regarded as the world title for veterans.
Personal life
Nykänen's career combined genius with temperamental outbursts and capers. After his retirement from sport, his athletic genius remained a heroic memory in the minds of his countrymen, but continuing and widely publicized follies made him something of a national disgrace. Stories of domestic violence as both perpetrator and victim, multiple marriages and divorces, a career as a musical performer and even as a
stripper guaranteed many kinds of publicity.
Nykänen has been married several times:
Tiina Hassinen (1986–1988), one son
Pia Hynninen (1989–1991), one daughter)
Mervi Tapola (2001–2003)
Mervi Tapola (2004–2010) In August 2010 Tapola had a 15th requests for divorce.
In November 2009 Nykänen began to present his own cookery web series Mattihan se sopan keitti.
Violence
Nykänen met millionaire sausage heiress Mervi Tapola in 1999.
On 24 August 2004, Matti Nykänen was arrested on suspicion of attempted manslaughter after the stabbing of a family friend after losing a finger pulling competition in Tottijärvi, Nokia. He was found guilty of aggravated assault and sentenced to a 26-month jail term in October 2004. As a it was a first offence, he was released from jail in September 2005. While on probation, he was re-arrested four days after his release for again abusing his partner. Nykänen was convicted again and imprisoned for four months on 16 March 2006. Soon after that he stabbed a man in a pizza restaurant in Korpilahti.
As an entertainer
When Nykänen's ski jumping career was drawing to a close a group of businessmen got on to him with a view to make him a singer. The first album
Yllätysten yö was published in 1992 and sold over 25,000 copies. Nykänen became the second Olympic gold medalist after
Tapio Rautavaara to sell a
golden record in Finland. The next album
Samurai (1993) was not as successful.
At the end of 1990s Nykänen had bad financial problems and worked as a strip teaser in a Järvenpää restaurant. The restaurateur was reproached for exploitation of Nykänen.
In 2002 Nykänen made a comeback as a singer and released the single Ehkä otin, ehkä en. Also a Matti Nykänen cider brand with the same advertisement slogan was published. In 2006 Nykänen released his third studio album Ehkä otin, ehkä en. Most of his musical career Nykänen has worked with professional musician Jussi Niemi. Recently Nykänen has toured Finland performing 2 to 3 times a week with the Samurai ensemble led by Niemi.
Discography
Yllätysten yö (1992)
Samurai (1993)
Ehkä otin, ehkä en (2006)
Biographies
A movie about the life of Matti Nykänen simply called Matti was released in 2006, with Finnish actor Jasper Pääkkönen cast as Nykänen. The movie concentrated on Nykänen's exploits beyond the ski-jumping hills.
Books
Matti Nykänen, Päivi Ainasoja and Manu Syrjänen: Mattihan se sopan keitti (2007)
Juha-Veli Jokinen: Missä me ollaan ja oonko mäkin siellä (2007) (the English version of the book
Greetings from Hell was published in January 2006)
Antero Kujala: Voittohyppy (1999)
Quotes
Nykänen's (mostly unintentionally) hilarious answers to interviewers or talk-show hosts and other "aphorisms" are extreme forms of
yogiisms. They have become extremely popular sayings in
Finland.
Cultural references
In 1988 DPR Korea issued a postage stamp depicting Matti Nykänen in the flight during competition.
References
Finnish
Official website
Norwegian
Holmenkollen medalists - click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file
Holmenkollen winners since 1892 - click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file
Category:1963 births
Category:Living people
Category:Finnish erotic dancers
Category:Finnish pop singers
Category:Finnish ski jumpers
Category:Holmenkollen medalists
Category:Holmenkollen winners
Category:Olympic ski jumpers of Finland
Category:Olympic gold medalists for Finland
Category:People convicted of assault
Category:People from Jyväskylä
Category:Ski jumpers at the 1984 Winter Olympics
Category:Ski jumpers at the 1988 Winter Olympics
Category:Winter Olympics medalists
