Jaroslav Sakala (; born 14 July 1969) is a former

ski jumper Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fin ...

who competed for

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

and the Czech Republic.

Career

He entered his first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

competition on 15 January 1989 in

Harrachov Harrachov (; ) is a town in Jablonec nad Nisou District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic, close to the border with Poland. It has about 1,400 inhabitants. It is known as one of the most popular Czech ski resorts. Administrative divisio ...

. His first big success was at the

1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile '92''), were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and aroun ...

Albertville Albertville (; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is best k ...

with a bronze medal in the team large hill. Sakala finished second in the 1992-93 Overall World Cup ski jumping and fourth the following season. He won three medals at the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1993 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1993 took place 19–28 February 1993 in Falun, Sweden, for the third time (1954, 1974). This event saw the creation of the combined pursuit where competitors would skate one distance in the classical interval ...

Falun Falun () is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 37,291 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Dalarna County. Falun forms, together with Borlänge, a metropolitan area with just over 100,000 inhabit ...

with a silver in the individual normal hill and bronzes in the individual and team large hills. Sakala achieved his first World Cup victory on 30 January 1993 at

Planica Planica () is an Alpine valley in northwestern Slovenia, extending south from the border village of Rateče, not far from another well-known ski resort, Kranjska Gora. Further south, the valley extends into the Tamar Valley, a popular hikin ...

. His only victory on a regular ski jump was in

Liberec Liberec (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 108,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse River, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preserved and is pr ...

on 16 January 1994. Sakala's fourth and final World Cup victory on 20 March 1994 at Planica when he won the Ski Flying World Championships. He was the first Czech to break the 200 metre barrier. He could not follow up on these successes in the years afterward and he did not win a medal in ski jumping after 1996, Sakala made more frequent

ski flying Ski flying is a winter sport discipline derived from ski jumping, in which much greater distances can be achieved. It is a form of competitive individual sport, individual Nordic skiing where athletes descend at high speed along a specially de ...

appearances from 1996 until his 2002 retirement.

World Cup

Standings

Wins

References

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More about Sakala Name
1969 births Czech male ski jumpers Czechoslovak male ski jumpers Living people Olympic bronze medalists for Czechoslovakia Olympic ski jumpers for Czechoslovakia Olympic ski jumpers for the Czech Republic Sportspeople from Krnov Ski jumpers at the 1992 Winter Olympics Ski jumpers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Ski jumpers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in ski jumping FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in ski jumping Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Skiers from the Moravian-Silesian Region {{CzechRepublic-skijumping-bio-stub