Nordic Roundup: Awesome Ahonen, Fatal accident in Canada, Happy Birthday AJ

Nordic Roundup: Awesome Ahonen, Fatal accident in Canada, Happy Birthday AJ{mosimage}Quick, what’s the Finnish word for Bulletproof? Ahonen? Finn Janne Ahonen finally won the World Cup overall title last season and he’s clearly not ready to yield the crown. And, as the World Cup marks its 25th season, he’s aiming for a little slice of history with the Four Hills Tournee, a.k.a, the Springertournee. He says hard work in the key.

He’s won 10 of the first 11 World Cup meets of the season. Thursday, he tries to become only the second ski jumper (behind Svan Hannawald of Germany in 2002) to win all four corners of the Springertournee as the tournee concludes in Bischofshofen, Austria; he made it 3-for-3 Monday, laying down the longest jump of the day in windy conditions in Innsbruck, and powering through for the victory. In an online interview, Ahonen said, ‘There is no secret. I just worked really hard over the summer.’

Veteran observers are used to seeing Ahonen who also enjoys drag racing and competed last summer in the Finnish championships on the podium. As German Coach Peter Rohwein (a former World cup skier) notes, the World Cup title gave Ahonen “enormous confidence. He trained throughout the summer without competing, and now it’s pay-back time.”

Canadian jump coach Jindro Mayer killed

Czech native Jindro Mayer, Canada’s popular ski jumping development coach, was killed on the night of Dec. 30 when the car he was driving crashed on an icy highway outside Calgary, authorities said. Mayer reportedly was driving home from a hockey game with his four children in the car when the accident took place; all four children were injured and his 8-year-old daughter was in a coma, according to officials.

Mayer, former coach of the Czech jumpers, and his wife moved to Canada in 1996. His death stunned members of both the Canadian and U.S. jumping community. “Jindro’s so close to our kids in Park City (Utah), the boys and the girls, and this hurts so deeply. Everyone’s certainly sending deepest sympathies to his family and to all the kids in Calgary who are involved. He was a pretty special person, not just a good coach,” said Peter Jerome, head of Women’s Ski Jumping USA.

U.S. X-C title races begin

Happy birthday, Andrew Johnson! The 2002 Olympian, who also raced in the 2003 World Championships, grabbed his first U.S. cross-country title Monday as the U.S. championships got underway on the rugged Olympic trails at Soldier Hollow, Utah. ‘It’s good to get this one’ Johnson said after winning the 30-kilometer skate race that concluded Day One in one hour, 18 minutes and 41.6 seconds. Olympic teammate Carl Swenson was second (1:19.05.6) and Dave Chamberlain third.

If Johnson was a new face on the top step of the podium and he was, the women’s champ was a familiar face. Rebecca Dussault, with husband Sharbel and 3-year-old son Taber watching, turned on the jets at the end of the two-lap 15km to win by five seconds. The winning time for her fifth national championship was 45:54.8 with former Northern Michigan racer Abi Larson taking silver (45:00.0) with Brooke Baughman in third place.

Kris Freeman, who had a pair of top-10s in World Cup racing last season, is sitting out the championships, training for a resurgence on the World Cup later this month in Europe. Upwards of 400 skiers have registered for the championships, which run through Jan. 10 at Soldier Hollow. World Championships Team berths are on the line along with spots at World Juniors and a Continental Cup trip to Scandinavia.