Matti Ensio Nykänen

Nick Name

: Matti Nykänen

Born

:07 Jul,1963

Age

:56 years, 1 months

Location

:Jyvaeskylae, Western Finland, Finland

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About Matti Ensio Nykänen

Matti Ensio Nykänen (born 17 July 1963) is a Finnish former ski jumper who won five Olympic medals (four gold), nine World Championship medals (five gold) and 22 Finnish Championshipsmedals (13 gold).

Most notably, Nykänen won three gold medals at the 1988 Winter Olympics, becoming, along with Yvonne van Gennip of the Netherlands, the most successful athlete at that event. Nykänen is the only ski jumper in history to have won all five of the sport's major competitions: a gold medal in the Winter Olympics (three times), the World Championships (once), the Ski Flying World Championships (once), four overall World Cup titles, and the Four Hills Tournament (twice).

Since the 1990s, his status as a celebrity has mainly been fueled, not by his sporting achievements, but instead by his colourful personal relationships, his career as a singer, and various incidents often related to heavy use of alcohol and violent behavior. He was sentenced to jail for 26 months following a stabbing incident in 2004, and again for 16 months after aggravated assault on his wife in 2009.

Biographies:

A movie about the life of Matti Nykänen simply called Matti was released in 2006, with Finnish actor Jasper Pääkkönen cast as Nykänen. The movie concentrated on Nykänen's exploits beyond the ski-jumping hills.

Books:

Matti Nykänen, Päivi Ainasoja and Manu Syrjänen: Mattihan se sopan keitti (2007)
Juha-Veli Jokinen: Missä me ollaan ja oonko mäkin siellä (2007)
Juha-Veli Jokinen: Elämä on laiffii (2006)
Kai Merilä: Matin ja minun rankka reissu (2005)
Egon Theiner: Grüsse aus der Hölle (2004)(the English version of the book Greetings from Hell was published in January 2006)
Antero Kujala: Voittohyppy (1999)
Antti Arve: Matti Nykänen Maailman paras (1988)
Kari Kyheröinen and Hannu Miettinen: Takalaudasta täysillä: Matti Nykäsen tie maailmanhuipulle (1984)
Juha-Veli Jokinen: Myötä- ja vastamäessä (2010)