Jacob Tullin Thams was probably the world’s best ski jumper in the mid 1920s, but on the national level the first national ski jumping championship was held in 1933, the same year a competition for ski jumpers was introduced at Holmenkollen. Before that, he had to compete in Nordic combined on the national level. After his Olympic victory in 1924, Thams won the Holmenkollen ski jumping part of Nordic Combined four years in a row (1924-27), winning the so-called Ladies’ Cup, but as a mediocre cross-country skier his best placing in the Holmenkollen Nordic Combined was a modest 14th in 1924. After winning the 1926 World Ski Jumping Championship, he was favored to defend his gold medal at the 1928 Winter Olympics. Thams was third after the first jump behind his countrymen Alf Andersen and Sigmund Ruud. The Swiss home favorites demanded more speed in the inrun for the second round. After strong discussions the Swiss jumpers got their will, and the hot-tempered Thams, provoked by the Swiss skiers, who accused the Norwegians of cowardness, instead of making a safe jump for a medal, gave all he had and landed at 73 meters, almost 10 meters longer than any other jump in the competition. But he fell, as he had no chance to remain standing at that length, and ended as 28th in the final results.
After his skiing career he competed in sailing, and was a member of the Norwegian team in the 8-metre class that won the silver medal at Berlin in 1936. He then became the second athlete with medals from Summer and Winter Games, with American Eddie Eagan being the first with gold medals in boxing in 1920 and bobsleigh in 1932. Thams was awarded the Holmenkollen medal in 1926.
Norway