Jiří Malec

Jiří Malec took up ski jumping at the age of 8. As one of the first ski jumpers to use the V-style, Malec was not selected to the Czechoslovakian national team until 1987, although domestically he repeatedly was better than other Czechoslovakian ski jumpers. But in the 80s, the V-style of jumping was considered inappropriate by the jury, and although it enabled very long jumps, judges awarded poor marks to those who used the style. Despite this, Malec became the first V-style user to win a major international tournament medal, when he managed to win individual normal hill Olympic bronze in 1988 despite the low style marks. Malec’s only other major international tournament was the 1989 World Championships, where he was 19th on the large hill. He also won a team event gold and normal hill silver at the 1987 Winter Universiade and large hill gold at the 1989 Winter Universiade. Malec finished his sporting career in 1990 and later worked as a ski jumping coach and school teacher in Liberec.