Simon Ammann, Ski Jumping

When and where did you begin this sport?

He took the sport up when he was eleven on a 30 metre hill in Wildhaus, near his hometown of Unterwasser. (NBC Olympics, 30 Dec 2009)

Why this sport?

He lived in small village with little else to do, so he started ski jumping. He said that he didn't enough leg drive to be a good jumper when he first began jumping but he was technically sound. (NBC Olympics, 30 Dec 2009)

Most memorable sporting achievement

Becoming a double Olympic champion in Salt Lake City in 2002. (swatch.com, 16 Jun 2003)

Awards and honours

In July 2004 he was awarded a trophy as the Swiss Athlete of the Century in the category of ski jumping from the Swiss Skiing Federation. (skispringen.com.rtl.de, 29 Nov 2004)

General

HARRY POTTER

He was dubbed 'Harry Potter' at the 2002 Winter Games due to his likeness to the fictitious boy wizard, as well as for his magical performances. But he has said he wants to be remembered for other reasons. "I tried hard to ensure that I will not be reduced to the super-trendy image of Salt Lake City. Or Harry Potter." (IOC, BBC Sport, 15 Feb 2002; AP, 30 Jan 2009)

SOCIAL NETWORKER

He launched his Facebook page in November 2009 and had more than 2,000 fans within two months. In 2008/09 he did not win any events after the New Year, so when he won in Sapporo in January 2010, he expressed his relief on the social networking site. "This is a good sign for me, thinking backwards to last season as I couldn't win again in the New Year." (NBC Olympics, 07 Feb 2010)

Due to the especially long list of major performances for this athlete, some of the results are not displayed.