Simon Ammann is a Swiss ski jumper. He is one of the most successful athletes in the history of the sport, having won four individual Winter Olympic gold medals in 2002 and 2010. His other achievements include winning the 2007 Ski Jumping World Championships, the 2010 Ski Flying World Championships, the 2010 Nordic Tournament, and the 2010 Ski Jumping World Cup overall title.
Jakub Janda is a Czech politician and former ski jumper. In ski jumping he competed from 1996 to 2017, winning the gold medal in the 2005–06 FIS Ski Jumping World Cup as the 2006 World Champion. He also won the 2005/06 Four Hills Tournament, as well as silver and bronze medals at the 2005 World Championships. Janda is one of the most successful ski jumpers from the Czech Republic, and is the only Czech World Cup champion to date.
Thomas Morgenstern is an Austrian former ski jumper who competed from 2002 to 2014. He is one of the most successful ski jumpers of all time, having won the World Cup overall title twice with 23 individual wins, the Four Hills Tournament and the Nordic Tournament once each, eight World Championship gold medals, and three Winter Olympic gold medals.
Anssi Einar Koivuranta is a retired Finnish ski jumper and former Nordic combined skier, best known for winning the 2008–09 FIS Nordic Combined World Cup. He won the gold medal in the 4 × 5 km team event and a bronze medal in the 15 km Gundersen race at the 2007 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Sapporo. After winning a Ski Jumping World Cup competition in Innsbruck on 4 January 2014, Koivuranta became the first ever athlete in history of ski jumping to win an event in both Nordic combined and the ski jumping World Cup.
Andreas Felder is an Austrian former ski jumper. During this period he dominated the sport, together with contemporaries Jens Weißflog and Matti Nykänen. He finished in the top three overall six times in the World Cup and won the 1990/91 overall. He won his first international championship medal at the 1982 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo with a silver medal in the team large hill event.
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2007 took place 22 February – 4 March 2007 in Sapporo, Japan. It was the second time this city has hosted these championships, having previously done so in the 1972 Winter Olympics. Sapporo was selected as venue by vote at the 43rd FIS World Congress in Portorož, Slovenia, on 6 June 2002. It also marked the third time the championships were hosted outside Europe in a year that did not coincide with the Winter Olympics; it was the first championship held in Asia. The ski jumping team normal hill event was not held, as it had been in 2005.
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 took place 18 February – 1 March 2009 in Liberec, Czech Republic. This was the fourth time these championships were hosted either in the Czech Republic or in Czechoslovakia, having done so at Janské Lázně (1925) and Vysoké Tatry.
Alexander Herr is a German former ski jumper who competed 1993 to 2006, then came out of retirement in 2009 to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics. He won a bronze medal in the normal at the Junior World Ski Championships in Harrachov in 1993 and won two medals at the 2001 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti with a gold in the team large hill and a bronze in the team normal hill events. He also finished third in the team event at the FIS Ski-Flying World Championships 2006.
Gregor Schlierenzauer is an Austrian former ski jumper who competed from 2006 to 2021. He is one of the most successful ski jumpers of all time, having won the Ski Jumping World Cup overall title, the Four Hills Tournament, and Nordic Tournament twice each; the Ski Flying World Cup overall title three times; as well as four medals at the Winter Olympics, twelve at the Ski Jumping World Championships, and five at the Ski Flying World Championships.
Sebastian Colloredoa.k.a. "Sebo" or "Collo", is an Italian ski jumper who has competed since 2002. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he earned his best finish of 11th in the team large hill event at Turin in 2006 while his best individual finish was 27th twice.
Andrea Cecon was an Italian Nordic combined skier who competed from 1992 to 2001. He also competed as a ski jumper at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, finishing eighth in the team large hill event.
Jan Matura is a Czech former nordic skier competing from 1999 to 2001 and a former ski jumper competing from 2002 to 2017.
Maksim Viktaravich Anisimov is a Belarusian ski jumper who has been competing since 2003. He finished 33rd in the individual normal hill at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
Nikolay Karpenko is a Kazakhstani ski jumper who has been competing since 2005. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he earned his best finish of 12th in the team large hill at Turin in 2006 while earning his best individual finish was 29th in the individual normal hill event at Vancouver in four years later.
At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec, Czech Republic, four Nordic combined were held. It also showed the biggest format changes since the introduction of the Gundersen method at the 1985 World Championships in Seefeld, Austria. In addition to the 10 km mass start event, there were changes in the Gundersen-based individual events. The 7.5 km sprint event was changed to a 10 km individual large hill event while the 15 km individual event was changed to a 10 km individual normal hill event with both being approved in September 2008. These changes also affected the Nordic combined program for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver though the mass start was excluded. The United States, which had two medals in Nordic combined prior to this championships, won a total of four medals with three golds and a bronze. Todd Lodwick, whose previous best individual finish at the world championships was 13th in the 7.5 km sprint at Oberstdorf in 2005, won golds in the 10 km mass start and 10 km individual normal hill events. His teammate Bill Demong won a gold in the 10 km individual large hill and bronze in the 10 km individual normal hill events. Germans Tino Edelmann and Björn Kircheisen each won a silver in the 4 x 5 km freestyle team event, then won individual silver medals in the 10 km mass start and 10 km individual large hills events, respectively. France's Jason Lamy Chappuis earned two bronze medals, earning them in the 10 km individual large hill and 10 km mass start. Norway's Jan Schmid won a silver in the 10 km mass start and a bronze in the 4 x 5 km freestyle event. A fourth American medal was prevented when Demong was disqualified in the ski jumping part of the 4 x 5 km freestyle team event for failing to wear his bib during competition, dropping the US to 12th and forcing their withdrawal from the cross country portion of the event. The Japanese won their first gold medal at the championships in the team event since 1995 when they edged the Germans in a photo finish. Current World Cup leader Anssi Koivuranta of Finland has a disappointing world championships, earning his best finish of fourth both in the 10 km individual normal hill and 10 km mass start events. Norway's Magnus Moan, second in the World Cup standings, also had a disappointing championships as well, with a best place finish of fifth in the 10 km individual large hill events even though he set the fastest cross-country skiing portion time in both the 10 km individual large hill and the 10 km individual normal hill events.
At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec, Czech Republic, four ski jumping events were held with three for men and one for women. It was the first time women's ski jumping took place and was so successful that FIS President Gian Franco Kasper hoped to include the event for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia with possible inclusion into a team event. American Lindsay Van was the first winner of the women's individual normal hill event, the first North American to medal in ski jumping at the world championship, and the first American woman to medal at the world championships. The three World Cup leaders each won a medal in the men's individual normal hill event with 2008-09 Four Hills Tournament winner Wolfgang Loitzl of Austria earning gold, the first individual of his career at the world championships. Loitzl's teammate Gregor Schlierenzauer would win silver in the same event with both teaming up to win gold in the team large hill event, given the Austrians three medals. Norway would also win three medals with a silver in the team large hill and bronzes from Anders Jacobsen and Anette Sagen. Switzerland and Germany each won two medals. Overall, six nations won medals, including Japan, who had the same team that had won the bronze medal in the team large hill at the previous championships in Sapporo, Japan.
Giuseppe Michielli is an Italian Nordic combined skier who has competed since 2002. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he earned his best finish of tenth in the 4 x 5 km team event at Vancouver in 2010 while earning his best finish of 14th in the 15 km individual event at Turin four years earlier.
Armin Bauer is an Italian Nordic combined skier who has competed since 2005. At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, he finished tenth in the 4 x 5 km team, 21st in the 10 km individual large hill, and 43rd in the 10 km individual large hill events.
Andreas Wellinger is a German ski jumper. His career-best achievements include an individual gold and silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics. He also won a team gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics and a team silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics, mixed team gold at the 2017 and 2023 Ski Jumping World Championships, an individual silver medal at the 2017 and 2023 World Championships and individual silver medal at the 2024 Ski Flying World Championships.
