Word: recknagel
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...Zakopane, Poland, East Germany's boyish Helmut Recknagel, 24, soared 338 ft.-3 ft. more than the nearest competitor-to cinch his second straight world ski-jumping championship...
...Europe the most spectacular ski-jumping form now on view belongs to East Germany's handsome, boyish Helmut Recknagel, 23, a onetime machinist in a ball-bearing factory...
Getting ready at the top of a jump, Recknagel slides his plastic-coated skis back and forth to make sure they are not clogged, grasps the two supports at the opening of the starting pen and kicks against the back wall with his right ski. Then, tucked into a ball, he shoots down the slide and off into the freezing air, leaning forward over his skis until his nose seems about to touch their tip. With his arms thrust forward, he looks like a diver soaring endlessly through space. Back at the top of the jump, Recknagel's rivals...
...Though Recknagel also piles up points with his graceful form, he wins mainly because he can fly farther down the slope than anyone else, much to the delight of the crowds of up to 135,000 that turn out to watch Europe's venturesome jumpers. Last February, Recknagel flew off with the gold medal in the Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley with one jump of 306 ft. This season, showing the brand of toughness the Finns call sisu, Recknagel has won central Europe's toughest title with a gigantic jump of 323 ft. at Bischofshofen, Austria, in addition...
...Recknagel's style of keeping his arms forward directly violates the accepted Finnish method of keeping the arms back along the sides, somewhat like the trailing wings of a jet fighter. "I've just evolved the style myself," says Recknagel. "When I'm going right, I can feel the air under my skis and my body like a cushion. The farther I jump, the more I feel the air, and I like those long jumps." Explains one admiring Finnish sports editor: "Recknagel's jump is a sort of diving, leaping, flying thing-and very brave...