Jaroslav Sakala

Jaroslav Sakala (IPA2|ˈjaroslaf ˈsakala) (born July 14, 1969 in Frenštát pod Radhoštěm, Czech Republic), is a former Czech ski jumper. He entered his first Ski jumping World Cup competition on January 15, 1989 in Harrachov. His first big success was at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville with a bronze medal in the team large hill. Sakala finished second in the 1992-3 Overall World Cup ski jumping and fourth the following season.

He won three medals at the 1993 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships with a gold in the individual normal hill and silvers in the individual and team large hills. Sakala achieved his first World Cup victory on January 30, 1994 at the Ski-flying World Championships in Planica. His only victory on a regular ski jump was in Liberec on January 16, 1994. Sakala's fourth and final World Cup victory on March 20, 1994 when he became a ski flying world champion. He was the first Czech to break the 200 meters mark. He could not follow up on these successes in the years afterword and he didn't medal in ski jumping after 1996, partly because of his conflicts with Czech skiing federation and because of his short period of excessive drinking. Sakala made more frequent ski flying appearances from 1996 until his 2002 retirement.

External links

*
* [http://www.sakala.com/family/name More about Sakala Name]