SWE flag 1997 Sundsvall SWE
The eighth International Masters Championship brought the Old Boys of the world back for their second visit to Sweden, this time to the Baltic port city of Sundsvall. The warm, sloppy snow conditions which visited both Zakopane (1995) and Steamboat Springs (1996) early in the week, came to stay at IMC 1997. The site did not offer a 90 meter hill, so the Old Boys competed on K-25, 45, and 68 meter jumps.

A new event for 1997 was a team jump, where the Norwegians flexed their muscles, fielding the first and second place teams. The host Swedish team placed third out of sixteen teams, while the Finns swept the next four spots.

Masters ski jumpers show a great reverence for the oldest of the Old Boys, and they had plenty of grand masters to cheer for, with ten jumpers sixty five or older. Eighty three year old Olai Lie of Norway was in a class by himself, but he scored well enough to place in front of five "youngsters", ten to fifteen years his junior.

In past Competitions, IMC co-founder Guttorm Bakke has had and ongoing rivalry with countryman Jorgen Brenden. Brenden skipped the 1997 IMC, but Ronald Jensen kept Bakke occupied. These two swapped first and second in the 45 and 68 meter events. The anticipated dogfight between Roger Ruud and Ari Raitoharju evaporated when the Finn fell in both competitions.

When all the jumping and skiing was over, Saturday evening was party time, with a very nice awards ceremony followed by a banquet and dancing.

Here are the medalists from IMC 1997 in Sundsvall, Sweden:

 

                25 meter (K)               45 meter (K)              68 meter (K)             Nordic Combined

Cl.11     1.  Olai Lie          NOR
80-84 

Cl. 9     1.  Martti Korhonen   FIN     Odd Aarnes        NOR                               Martti Korhonen    FIN
70-74     2.  Odd Aarnes        NOR     Johs Johnsen      NOR                               OlavMalin          NOR
          3.  Olav Malin        NOR                                                         IllarionMukhortov  RUS

Cl. 8     1.  John Eidem        NOR     John Eidem        NOR                               Nils Eriksen       NOR
65-69     2.  Nils Eriksen      NOR                                                         Aritz Hallberg     SWE
          3.  Nikolai Teterin   RUS                                                         John Eidem         NOR

Cl. 7     1.  Anat. Tchistiakov Rus     Aarne Kuisma      FIN     Aarne Kuisma      FIN    Anatoli Tchistiakov RUS
60-64     2.  Dale Severson     USA     Boris Bobkov      RUS                              Aarne Lintulahti    FIN
          3.  Boris Bobkov      RUS     Dale Severson     USA

Cl. 6     1.  Magne Heistad     NOR     Ingvart Tornangen NOR     Ingvart Tornangen NOR    Erkki Muhonen       FIN
55-59     2.  Kare Holman       NOR     Magne Heistad     NOR     Martti Lamminpaa  FIN    Ivan Seleninov      RUS
          3.  Svein Husby       NOR     Kurt Elima        SWE     Knut Wester       NOR    Ingvart Tornangen   NOR

Cl. 5     1.  Jan Ringseth      NOR     Guttorm Bakke     NOR     Ronald Jensen     NOR    Ake Saloniemi       SWE
50-54     2.  Boris Chvetsov    RUS     Ronald Jensen     NOR     Guttorm Bakke     NOR    Reider Finnanger    NOR
          3.  Rolf Andresen     NOR     Harald Skalleberg NOR     Antti Kokkonen    FIN    Jan Willy Oskal     NOR

Cl. 4     1.  Nikolai Zotov     RUS     Kare Johnsen      NOR     Jan Heiberg       NOR    Pekka Tainio        FIN
45-49     2.  Taisto Tolvanen   FIN     Pekka Tainio      FIN     Kare Johnsen      NOR    Helge Nordahl       NOR
          3.  Kalevi Neuvonen   FIN     Gjert Andersen    NOR     Gjert Andersen    NOR    Gjert Andersen      NOR

Cl. 3     1.  Reijo Honkanen    FIN     Nils-Olav KongsvikNOR     Nils-Olav KongsvikNOR    Pertti Laaksonen    FIN
40-44     2.  Pentti HartikainenFIN     Arsi Sjogren      SWE     Roy Strengelsrud  NOR    Christian Berggrav  NOR
          3.  Hannu Kasave      FIN     Pekka Korhonen    FIN     Pentti Rautiainen FIN    Oiva Ollodainen     FIN

Cl. 2     1.  Raimo PihlajaniemiFIN     Roger Ruud        NOR     Roger Ruud        NOR    Sergei Tcherviakov  RUS
35-39     2.  Geir Slastad      NOR     Timo Kekkonen     FIN     Timo Kekkonen     FIN    Kari Pesonen        FIN
          3.  Arne Cambrant     SWE     Stig Dahl         NOR     Veijo Stranden    FIN    Kalevi Kantola      FIN

Cl. 1     1.  Pietro Nilsson    SWE     Mikko Taskila     FIN     Raimo Tuovionen   FIN    Raimo Tuovionen     FIN
30-34     2.  Per Werme         SWE     Stein A. Vennatro NOR     Mikko Taskila     FIN    Markku Jantunen     FIN
          3.  Ulf Candell       SWE     Rami Ahola        FIN     Stein A. Vennatro NOR    Arve Waal           NOR

That's all for IMC 1997, now on to Russia for IMC 1998, ...

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