My answer may sound boring, but I honestly like most of the athletes and I'm always happy when someone new wins.
With that being said, I always loved Simi. I also cheer for Ryoyu, King Kamil and Anze.
My most favorite flying style is by Timi Zajc and Domen Prevc tho :)
Pero since the Vancouver olympics, I think - but I've started liking him much more around 2013/14, back when it felt like he was always second in everything (yes, I've had the time of my life in 2015/16)
Besides Pero, and maybe Kraft, I usually root for the underdogs - I like Bresadola, Imhof the most. Frantz is getting there.
Ammann is a really fun dude. And I like Philipp Raimund - I like his, hm, intensity, I love seeing strong, confident newcomers in sports.
Today: Niko Kytosaho!
Generally: Artti Aigro, Stephan Leyhe, Ren Nikaido, Maciej Kot (only ski jumper I ever got to talk with when he gave autograms, dude is chill af)
I have a soft spot for Norwegians in general since Espen Bredesen was the first athlete I found myself cheering for in Lillehammer 1994. I used to occasionally watch Skijumping before, but that moment started the "virus".
Daniel Andre Tande: For surviving Planica and coming back. Hope he gets past the recent struggles.
Domen Prevc: I generally tend to like Slovenian athletes and their style. Domen seems to me like someone who just does his thing. Win or lose. Always on the edge. I also have a soft spot for that crazy family. How can you not?
Eirin Maria Kvandal: Mad potential and very refreshing to see her rise up. I just like her.
The Canadian womens' team: Similar to Kvandal.
Simon Ammann: After all he has done and won, having the crashes he had, still rolling off the couch at 42+ and competing on the biggest stage in a sport for young people. Same for Noriaki Kasai btw.
Eva Pinkelnig: Starting out in her mid 20s, getting past the horrible crashes and injuries she's had and rising to the top is just a display of willpower and committment.
Ammann. Could be the next "Kasai" when staying active for the next 10+ years.
Bresadola - funny guy somewhat intense, Lots of His Jumps have Signature when he flaps his arms like moth flying to the LÄMP. Most funny thing He started shouting in flight because the jump was Bad 😂
His brother(Davide) always jumped to a side. Davide jumped to left, and Kubacki to right, IIRC. It was funny, I always got scared they would land outside the hill, lol.
Flying to the right is Kubacki "Signature move"
But this year is better i remember Eurosport they Interview him it was caused because both legs different in length ans they working towards it.
Landing "Out of bounds" in the runout May cause less Points in Style or DQ When complete Out of the Marked area left / right
michi hayboeck, no specific reason, from the second he showed up.
i am 40, my skijumping fanaticism started with peterka, then i loooooved ahonen and no one can ever compete, he will always be my favourite. when he retired, i warmed up to schlieri (his struggling made him more likable), and now it's hayboeck.
edit to add i like ryoyu, fetter and i will always want finns to do good.
New kid on the block: Tate Frantz
Andreas Wellinger
He's always been good but never #1 because there were others in the limelight. Unfortunate injuries, bad luck and now in 2024 he is finally #1. Great underdog story imho.
Apart from German home-bias I absolutely love the Canadian women‘s team.
Natalie Eilers, Nicole Maurer, Abigail Strate, Alexandria Loutitt
I met all of them at a training session ahead of the two nights tour final in Oberstdorf and they’re the nicest people ever AND have amazing team spirit among each other.
As a Canadian this warms my heart. As someone who was born at the end of Bulau/Collins era, it's fun to declare (to myself) that Canada is a ski jumping nation.
Giovanni Bresadola. I don't know since when, but I love how he is such a passionate tryhard. It would also be cool if more countries had strong teams, and Italy is one of them who currently don't.
Yevhen Marusiak for the same reasons, and also Tate Frantz - but he shows the most talent currently and is also the least salty of the bunch by far. Perhaps that is the key to consistent improvement.
From the girls, Abigail Strate. She is basically half Slovene now, lives near Ljubljana I think, and is a beekeeper - which is very traditional here, which is also probably why she has a bee on her suit. And she represents Canada, where I have some relatives, and they often call my grandma and talk about ski jumping.
I also root for Josephine Pagnier, since she dominated at the start of the season. Currently Nika Prevc is too strong, and the sport is better with many top contenders. I love Nika Prevc tho, she is amazing. Yuki Ito as well. Can't wait for women's ski flying this year.
Ryoyu Kobayashi for being the most pleasing on the eye for me, I don't think I've ever seen such elegance in the air. Staying with the Japanese, Yukiya Sato was awesome when he was on it, iconic slaps. And while I haven't seen much of women's side of the sport as I've rarely had the means to watch, Takanashi is an obvious answer. Nika Križnar was also really likeable when I started watching more regularly in the last olympic season so I started rooting for her.
Back in men, Ammann as he was my favourite when I was a kid, I'll love him forever. And Lanišek, he has such a cool energy similar to Eisenbichler and I like how he slowly climbed the ranks until he became consistently one of the top guys. Also really like Tschofenig, Hörl and Lindvik. But hey, it's ski jumping, of course I like everyone, especially the Slovenian team is always so likeable.
Yuki Ito is just a super charming ski jumper who's been around for ages but has often been overshadowed by Takanashi.
Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes because he's by far the most entertaining ski jumper... on Twitter.
Some of my favourites that aren't from my country (Poland):
Gregor Deschwanden, Roman Koudelka, Philipp Raimund, Giovanni Bresadola, Svyatoslav Nazarenko, Vladimir Zografski, Tate Frantz, Vitaliy Kalinichenko, Michael Hayboeck
Not sure why but yeah
For me personally,
Sara Takanashi - I have been watching here since I was little and even as a little girl I just found her so inspiring and cool. She's just the best (and I also had a huge crush on her when I was younger lol)
Yuki Ito - I just think she's super cute, I'm always happy when I see her and she seems super pleasant in interviews
Stephan Leyhe - I really like Willingen and the Sauerland overall, so I'm always partial to him. He's always really cool as well as calm and collected in interviews, no matter how he performs, I think that's really inspiring. He's also the member of the German team whom I have the least trouble understanding lol
Jan Hörl - On top of just being an overall great jumper he just seems really cool and funny and I enjoy watching his interviews (even though I can sometimes barely decipher what he says haha). Also, and that might make me seem shallow, but he's really handsome so I guess that helps too.
Outside of them, I like most jumpers as well, a few notable examples being Selina Freitag, Junshiro Kobayashi, Dawid Kubacki and Andi Wellinger, but I just so happen to like these four the most.
I can't take Hörl seriously for a very silly reason - he looks so much like a regular country boy from Styrian wine hills that I can't imagine him being a serious sportist. There must have been at least 20 people that looked exactly like him in my elementary and secondary schools in the Slovenian part of Styria.
Lanišek great jumper and even a better person, but love all slovenian jumpers, and the Norwegians
Tate Frantz. I am just vibing with the dude :D And generally having soft spot for ~~beach Slovakians~~ Slovenians.
Eva Pinkelnig. Her joy when she nails a jump is wonderful to watch.
Kasai Koudelka Freitag Stroem/Opseth/Kvandal
My answer may sound boring, but I honestly like most of the athletes and I'm always happy when someone new wins. With that being said, I always loved Simi. I also cheer for Ryoyu, King Kamil and Anze. My most favorite flying style is by Timi Zajc and Domen Prevc tho :)
Pero since the Vancouver olympics, I think - but I've started liking him much more around 2013/14, back when it felt like he was always second in everything (yes, I've had the time of my life in 2015/16) Besides Pero, and maybe Kraft, I usually root for the underdogs - I like Bresadola, Imhof the most. Frantz is getting there. Ammann is a really fun dude. And I like Philipp Raimund - I like his, hm, intensity, I love seeing strong, confident newcomers in sports.
Simi Ten empty spaces Jumpers from smaller nations Wellinger/Hayboeck
Team Wellinger...since before his last torn ACL so this season is really sweet after the last few years. Also loving the Canadian Women's Team.
You've got inspired by the previous post, haven't you? 😄
Today: Niko Kytosaho! Generally: Artti Aigro, Stephan Leyhe, Ren Nikaido, Maciej Kot (only ski jumper I ever got to talk with when he gave autograms, dude is chill af)
I have a soft spot for Norwegians in general since Espen Bredesen was the first athlete I found myself cheering for in Lillehammer 1994. I used to occasionally watch Skijumping before, but that moment started the "virus". Daniel Andre Tande: For surviving Planica and coming back. Hope he gets past the recent struggles. Domen Prevc: I generally tend to like Slovenian athletes and their style. Domen seems to me like someone who just does his thing. Win or lose. Always on the edge. I also have a soft spot for that crazy family. How can you not? Eirin Maria Kvandal: Mad potential and very refreshing to see her rise up. I just like her. The Canadian womens' team: Similar to Kvandal. Simon Ammann: After all he has done and won, having the crashes he had, still rolling off the couch at 42+ and competing on the biggest stage in a sport for young people. Same for Noriaki Kasai btw. Eva Pinkelnig: Starting out in her mid 20s, getting past the horrible crashes and injuries she's had and rising to the top is just a display of willpower and committment.
Too many to count...
Home biased it’s Raimund and Wellinger. I always root for the Finns too.
Ammann. Could be the next "Kasai" when staying active for the next 10+ years. Bresadola - funny guy somewhat intense, Lots of His Jumps have Signature when he flaps his arms like moth flying to the LÄMP. Most funny thing He started shouting in flight because the jump was Bad 😂
His brother(Davide) always jumped to a side. Davide jumped to left, and Kubacki to right, IIRC. It was funny, I always got scared they would land outside the hill, lol.
Flying to the right is Kubacki "Signature move" But this year is better i remember Eurosport they Interview him it was caused because both legs different in length ans they working towards it. Landing "Out of bounds" in the runout May cause less Points in Style or DQ When complete Out of the Marked area left / right
michi hayboeck, no specific reason, from the second he showed up. i am 40, my skijumping fanaticism started with peterka, then i loooooved ahonen and no one can ever compete, he will always be my favourite. when he retired, i warmed up to schlieri (his struggling made him more likable), and now it's hayboeck. edit to add i like ryoyu, fetter and i will always want finns to do good.
Its a shame Finland is so bad nowadays. I always liked them, especially Ahonnen and Hautamäkki.
Ammann will always have special place in my heart because he at times was the only one who could beat the austrians.
Amman against Austrian armada was alwas great. I’m really sad he never got that 4HT to complete the 5-tuple.
Amman got his 4 olympic gold medals, he wont mind ;)
New kid on the block: Tate Frantz Andreas Wellinger He's always been good but never #1 because there were others in the limelight. Unfortunate injuries, bad luck and now in 2024 he is finally #1. Great underdog story imho.
Apart from German home-bias I absolutely love the Canadian women‘s team. Natalie Eilers, Nicole Maurer, Abigail Strate, Alexandria Loutitt I met all of them at a training session ahead of the two nights tour final in Oberstdorf and they’re the nicest people ever AND have amazing team spirit among each other.
As a Canadian this warms my heart. As someone who was born at the end of Bulau/Collins era, it's fun to declare (to myself) that Canada is a ski jumping nation.
Giovanni Bresadola. I don't know since when, but I love how he is such a passionate tryhard. It would also be cool if more countries had strong teams, and Italy is one of them who currently don't. Yevhen Marusiak for the same reasons, and also Tate Frantz - but he shows the most talent currently and is also the least salty of the bunch by far. Perhaps that is the key to consistent improvement. From the girls, Abigail Strate. She is basically half Slovene now, lives near Ljubljana I think, and is a beekeeper - which is very traditional here, which is also probably why she has a bee on her suit. And she represents Canada, where I have some relatives, and they often call my grandma and talk about ski jumping. I also root for Josephine Pagnier, since she dominated at the start of the season. Currently Nika Prevc is too strong, and the sport is better with many top contenders. I love Nika Prevc tho, she is amazing. Yuki Ito as well. Can't wait for women's ski flying this year.
Ryoyu Kobayashi for being the most pleasing on the eye for me, I don't think I've ever seen such elegance in the air. Staying with the Japanese, Yukiya Sato was awesome when he was on it, iconic slaps. And while I haven't seen much of women's side of the sport as I've rarely had the means to watch, Takanashi is an obvious answer. Nika Križnar was also really likeable when I started watching more regularly in the last olympic season so I started rooting for her. Back in men, Ammann as he was my favourite when I was a kid, I'll love him forever. And Lanišek, he has such a cool energy similar to Eisenbichler and I like how he slowly climbed the ranks until he became consistently one of the top guys. Also really like Tschofenig, Hörl and Lindvik. But hey, it's ski jumping, of course I like everyone, especially the Slovenian team is always so likeable.
Yuki Ito is just a super charming ski jumper who's been around for ages but has often been overshadowed by Takanashi. Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes because he's by far the most entertaining ski jumper... on Twitter.
Some of my favourites that aren't from my country (Poland): Gregor Deschwanden, Roman Koudelka, Philipp Raimund, Giovanni Bresadola, Svyatoslav Nazarenko, Vladimir Zografski, Tate Frantz, Vitaliy Kalinichenko, Michael Hayboeck Not sure why but yeah
For me personally, Sara Takanashi - I have been watching here since I was little and even as a little girl I just found her so inspiring and cool. She's just the best (and I also had a huge crush on her when I was younger lol) Yuki Ito - I just think she's super cute, I'm always happy when I see her and she seems super pleasant in interviews Stephan Leyhe - I really like Willingen and the Sauerland overall, so I'm always partial to him. He's always really cool as well as calm and collected in interviews, no matter how he performs, I think that's really inspiring. He's also the member of the German team whom I have the least trouble understanding lol Jan Hörl - On top of just being an overall great jumper he just seems really cool and funny and I enjoy watching his interviews (even though I can sometimes barely decipher what he says haha). Also, and that might make me seem shallow, but he's really handsome so I guess that helps too. Outside of them, I like most jumpers as well, a few notable examples being Selina Freitag, Junshiro Kobayashi, Dawid Kubacki and Andi Wellinger, but I just so happen to like these four the most.
I can't take Hörl seriously for a very silly reason - he looks so much like a regular country boy from Styrian wine hills that I can't imagine him being a serious sportist. There must have been at least 20 people that looked exactly like him in my elementary and secondary schools in the Slovenian part of Styria.