- Simon Ammann
Ski jumper infobox
name= Simon Ammann
fullname = Simon Ammann
nickname = "Simi"
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1981|6|25
cityofbirth =Grabs
countryofbirth =Switzerland
height =
club = RG Churfirsten
skis = Elan
personalbest =
seasons = 1997–
wins = 3
podiums = 14
totalpodiums = 17
updated = August 2007Simon Ammann (born
June 25 ,1981 ) is aSwiss ski jumper.Ammann was born in
Grabs, Switzerland to Margit and Hienrich Ammann and rasied inUnterwasser , Switzerland. He has two brothers and three sisters. He made his debut as a 16-year-old unknown during the 1997-1998Ski jumping World Cup season. Ammann qualified for the 1998Nagano Olympic Games , where he finished 35th. Before the2002 Winter Olympics , he crashed and suffered injuries. InSalt Lake City , he surprised everyone by winning the individual gold medal in not just the short hill, but also the long hill event. Ammann was only the second person to accomplish this feat. (The first wasMatti Nykänen in 1988.) Ammann quickly became a huge star in Switzerland and also made appearances on American talk shows, such as "Late Show" withDavid Letterman (February 20, 2002). Much of his stardom can be credited to his uncanny resemblance toHarry Potter , a comparison Ammann personally disliked.Ammann also won the ski jumping event at the Holmenkollen ski festival in 2002 and 2007. This would earn him the
Holmenkollen medal in 2007 (Shared withFrode Estil ,Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset ,King Harald V andQueen Sonja of Norway ).He made his third Olympic appearance in 2006 in
Turin . His nickname is "Simi".Apart from his athletic career, Ammann is also a student of
information technology andelectrical engineering atETH Zurich since 2006.On
February 24 , 2007, he won his first medal at theFIS Nordic World Ski Championships with a victory in the individual large hill inSapporo . Ammann would follow this with a silver in the individual normal hill the following week.Ammann currently lives in
Schindellegi ,Switzerland .References
*FIS|S=JP|ID=973
* [http://www.skiforeningen.no/content/download/13578/75476/file/Holmenkollmedaljen.pdf Holmenkollen medalists download] no icon
* [http://www.skiforeningen.no/holmenkollen/holmenkollen_historikk Holmenkollen winners since 1892] - click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file no icon
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