POL flag 2003 Zakopane POL

The Old Boys of the ski jumping world returned to Zakopane, Poland in February 2003, having competed in 1995 in that scenic winter resort situated at the foot of the massive Tatra mountains. [See earlier description and picture.] Eight years later they found many changes and improvements to the jumping complex and to the town.
ZAKOPANE on-line

The K-65 and K-85 jumps share a common outrun area and shuttle chairlift, and the 35 meter jump is between the 65 and the lift. The Jumping facility is very nice and the hills were very well prepared for the competitions. Following the latest practice, hosts used an electrically powered milling machine to cut tracks on the inruns, which were then iced for speed and durability. The world class 120 meter hill, a couple of hundred meters to the west, was not used for the IMC, but the hosts graciously opened it for one session of jumping for IMC participants who wanted the high flying, high adrenaline activity.

The 120 meter outrun again served as the site for an evening cookout, the start-finish of the cross country, and the opening ceremony. This year, in the parade of nations, teams were led by young jumpers in their colorful Zakopane ski club jackets, and the nation's flags were skied down the 120 meter landing in the dark and fog by instructors from the ski school.

The first four days saw haze bordering on fog, cutting down visibility for jumping. On Friday, the sun came out and stayed for the duration of the festivities. Temperatures hovered in the 25-30 range (Fahrenheit) and calm winds provided perfect jumping weather. This time, there was plenty of snow for the final day's cross country races.

Awards were presented on the outrun after the 65 and 85 meter jumps. A scoring error delayed the 35 meter jumping awards until Friday evening, and prizes for the team jump and Nordic Combined were awarded at the Saturday night banquet, held in a (different) brand new traditional log building. Musicians in regional costumes entertained, not only at the banquet but even on the bus that carried skiers to the banquet hall.

A strong German team and skiers from four other central European nations made up in numbers for a slightly reduced Norwegian delegation. And again, the IMC welcomed a new nation. Four jumpers brought the colors of Hungary for the first time to an IMC. Welcome!

The oldest age group on any hill would have been 65-69 were it not for the presence of

65 M. TEAM JUMP
  1. NOR 1192.5
  2. FIN   1151.5
  3. RUS  1132.2
  4. SWE  978.3
  5. GER   944.8
  6. UN     812.9
the incredible Olai Lie (left) of Norway who turned 90 this January and who jumped beautifully on the 35 meter hill, gaining five scores of 20 from the judges. In all, 127 skiers from ten nations participated and every nation went home with medals. On Thursday morning, 103 competitors lined up for the 65 meter competition. On Friday the 85 meter had 52 jumpers and the 35 had 67 old boys. The Saturday morning team jump involved six teams of six jumpers each, with Norway overcoming a fall by Geir Rune Lislegaard to extend its perfect record in IMC team events. That afternoon, 33 men finished the cross country portion of the nordic combined competition.

Jan Heiberg showed once again that you don't have to be under 40 to jump like a youngster. He has just turned 55 but his excellent jumping with the modern V-technique earned him the fourth best score in the K-85 competition and the third best on the K-65. Double gold medal performances were turned in by Heiberg, Aarne Kuisma, Josef Hysek and Oyvind Villesvik.

Compact results from IMC 2003 are now available (quick to load, easy to read)
[ K-35 ] [ K-65 ] [ K-85 ] [ NC ] [ Team ]
Results are also available on the organizer's web site. They are exact copies of
the official pages but the large .gif images load slowly. [ Click to read them ]

You can browse through pictures of the medalists, grouped by event:
[ K-35 ] [ K-65 ] [ K-85 ] [ NC ] [ Team ]
as well as a picture album with a slightly personal slant.

The IMC Committee held its annual meeting on Friday evening in Zakopane.
You may want to read the minutes of the meeting.

Here are the names of the medalists from IMC 2003 in Zakopane, POL:
[This listing is wide, use your horizontal slider (if necessary) to view all four columns.] 

                35 meter (K)               65 meter (K)             85 meter (K)              Nordic Combined

Cl.13   1. OLAI LIE            NOR
90-94

Cl. 8   1. AARNE KUISMA        FIN     AARNE KUISMA       FIN     MARTTI LAMMINPÄÄ   FIN   Kurt Brausse        GER
65-69   2. KURT BRAUSSE        GER     KURT BRAUSSE       GER     WILLY JOHANSEN     NOR   Aarne Lintulahti    FIN
        3. TEUVO KOLJONEN      FIN     MARTTI LAMMINPÄÄ   FIN     DON WEST           USA   Teuvo Koljonen      FIN

Cl. 7   1. KURT ELIMA          SWE     GUTTORM BAKKE      NOR     INGVART TÖRNÄNGEN  SWE   Arnold Lund         NOR
60-64   2. STANISLAV GRUZDEV   RUS     INGVART TÖRNÄNGEN  SWE     KNUT WESTER        NOR   Erkki Muhonen       FIN
        3. PER BIRGER LOMHEIM  NOR     STANISLAV GRUZDEV  RUS                              Per Birger Lomheim  NOR

Cl. 6   1. TAISTO TOLVANEN     FIN     JAN HEIBERG        NOR     JAN HEIBERG        NOR   Åke Saloniemi       SWE
55-59   2. SIGMUND STENBERG    NOR     TAISTO TOLVANEN    FIN     AATTO LAMMINPÄÄ    FIN   Reidar Finnanger    NOR
        3. MATTI KASEVA        FIN     AATTO LAMMINPÄÄ    FIN     ANTTI KOKKONEN     FIN   Pentti Korkko       FIN

Cl. 5   1. PEKKA KORHONEN      FIN     KARE JOHNSEN       NOR     BJÖRN KNUTSEN      NOR   Pekka Tainio        FIN
50-54   2. ALEXANDR TRAVIN     RUS     VLADIMIR FROLOV    RUS     KLAUS GÜNTHER      GER   Kare Johnsen        NOR
        3. SINDRE HELLAND      NOR     BJÖRN KNUTSEN      NOR     KARE JOHNSEN       NOR   Jan Skevik          NOR

Cl. 4   1. STIG DAHL           NOR     JOSEF HYSEK        SVK     JOSEF HYSEK        SVK   Arsi Sjögren        FIN
45-49   2. RISTO OSTERBERG     SWE     ROY STRENGELSRUD   NOR     STEIN ARNE HOEL    NOR   Odd Nordsteien      NOR
        3. MIKHAIL PIROZHKOV   RUS     ARSI SJÖGREN       FIN     ROY STRENGELSRUD   NOR   Jon Ove Lomheim     NOR

Cl. 3   1. ZBIGNIEW MALIK      POL     KALEVI KANTOLA     FIN     ARI RAITOHARJU     FIN   Kari Pesonen        FIN
40-44   2. KALEVI KANTOLA      FIN     ARI RAITOHARJU     FIN     RAUNO KOMULAINEN   FIN   Rauno Komulainen    FIN
        3. SVEIN ERIK RONNING  NOR     VEIJO STRANDEN     FIN     TORRY RINGKILEN    NOR   Frank Schilling     GER

Cl. 2   1. PIETRO NILSSON      SWE     OYVIND VILLESVIK   NOR     OYVIND VILLESVIK   NOR   GeirRune Lislegaard NOR
35-39   2. ERKKI AHTIAINEN     FIN     SEPPO KINNUNEN     FIN     SEPPO KINNUNEN     FIN   Erkki Ahtiainen     FIN
        3. ALEXANDER ILYUKHIN  RUS     JANNE HEINONEN     FIN     G-RUNE LISLEGAARD  NOR   Ludek Revaj         CZE

Cl. 1   1. LASZLO MOLNER       HUN     BARTLOMIEJ SIECZKA POL     MARKO GOLKE        GER   Alexandr Postanogov RUS
30-34   2. ZSOLT KARADI        HUN     MARKO GOLKE        GER     BARTLOMIEJ SIECZKA POL   Andrey Antropov     RUS
        3. SWEN LANGWENUS      GER     LENNART THEANDER   SWE     LENNART THEANDER   SWE   Swen Langwenus      GER

That's all for IMC 2003, now on to Germany for IMC 2004, ...

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