When i was a kid a used to watch all sorts of sports and most of them kept my interest for various periods of time. 

I remember when i found my dad one winter watching ski jumping. For me it was surreal. Those men were actually flying! One of human kind’s oldest dreams and it was a niche sport! I couldn’t have been older than 10 or 12 and i was completely fascinated. 

Of course, being so young, I did not watch the competitions regularly. It was only when I was in highschool that I started being more interested (figures as I was spending less time playing with friends and more time watching tv). 

My first favourite ski jumper was Rok Benkovic. He wasn’t spectacular, but i did appreciate his effort. It fascinated me how someone younger than me was already doing so much, living a dream, unhinged by daily duties like my own.

The great superstars then were Adam Malysz and Janne Ahonen. Seldom was there room for anyone else, like Sigurd Pettersen, Roar Ljoekelsoey or Sven Hannawald. 

Slowly times changed. Rok Benkovic ended his career, but others joined in. New names like Thomas Morgenstern, Andreas Kofler or Simon Ammann were rising. One year we had the new Norwegian discovery Anders Jacobsen who used to be a plumber and then a ski jumping superstar.Then another year a 16 year old boy named Gregor Schlierenzauer appeared and amazed everyone.  Back then i would have never guessed who would make it and who would not.

During college, as I did not have a tv in my dorm I’ve fallen out. There were still some competitions that I managed to watch. What I mostly remember now is Bjoern Einar Romoeren’s black gloves with the skeleton bones drawn on them and his world record. 

The upcoming end of the season made me nostalgic and for the last few days I’ve thinking of all the memories of ski jumping that I have. It is so surprising that we get to invest quite a lot of ourselves in something that is so foreign to us and it still gives us great joy.

May we have a spectacular end of season!