Word: nykanen
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...history of the Winter Games as she took a bronze in the 20 km, the record ninth medal of her four- Olympiad career. Even Britons, whose team failed to win a single medal, could take pride in a new national achievement. Just 47 1/2 meters short of Matti Nykanen's mark in the 90-meter ski jump, "Eddie the Eagle" Edwards' last-place 71-meter flutter meant he had flown three meters farther than any other Englishman. Ever...
...less generous spirit, America's patchy playground directors were so dismayed by their meager share of the plunder (two gold, one silver and three bronze, in contrast to three gold medals for Finnish Ski Jumper Matti Nykanen alone) that they brought in New York Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner to help them harrumph. Promising importantly to look into it, he made noises about cost-effectiveness, dropped a few cold war phrases, filled a lot of newspaper columns and went home. Meanwhile, in front of the Village, one of the enemies of capitalism, G.D.R. Figure Skater Alexander Koenig, 21, politely priced...
...Flying Finn" is probably the most single-minded and obsessive jumper as well as the best. Nykanen first slid off the roof of his childhood home at 7, got his first skis two years later, and did more jumps at 12 than most of his competitors do now. "When I met him, Matti was making 3,000 to 4,000 jumps a year," said Paavo Komi, a professor who worked with the budding star in his native Jyvaskyla. "Now he jumps nearly 6,000 times each year, in contrast to 3,000 to 4,000 for most jumpers." Part...
Typically, Nykanen shows superb sail but flawed form. On takeoff his arms may flail, and in landing he often misses the perfect telemark position: back straight and knees bent, with one leg considerably in front of the other. But these faults stem from his unique method of reading and reacting to the wind, sacrificing grace for distance. The antistyle may also owe something to Nykanen's fierce personality and determination to do everything his own way. At any rate, it does not seem to cost him style points. Judges are apparently willing to overlook his less than perfect form, presumably...
...Olympics has always been a relative matter of little feelers. Eddie ("the Eagle") Edwards, the ski-jumping plasterer from England, spoke for all the Games' odd fellows when he declared, "To have jumped and still be alive -- it's a thrill." As if Edwards were the grand Finn Matti Nykanen himself, the Brit writers have claimed Eddie as their new knight of the woeful countenance (not to mention feeble eyesight and flapping elbows). What choice did they have? Out at Calgary's quaint hall for curling, the Scots were finishing last in another game they invented. It was pretty exciting...