Individual, Men

There were several strong contenders. Finland’s Samppa Lajunen had won the World Cup in 1996-97 and 1999-2000 and was runner-up at the 1999 and 2001 World Championships. His biggest rival was Bjarte Engen Vik, who beat him at the 1999 and 2001 Worlds, and was the defending champion, but he had retired after the 2001 season. In his absence, Austrian Felix Gottwald was expected to challenge Lajunen, having won the 2000-01 World Cup. And in the 2001-02 World Cup, Gottwald was in a close battle for the lead with German Ronny Ackermann.

Lajunen’s teammate, Jaakko Tallus, was the leader in the jumping with 267.5 points, but Lajunen was only 8.5 back. Ackermann was fifth and Gottwald 11th after the jumps, both still in contention. Tallus went off 53 seconds ahead of Lajunen, 1:08 ahead of Ackermann, and with a 2:43 margin on Gottwald. Lajunen caught Tallus on the second lap (of three) and pulled ahead to win the gold medal by 24.7, Tallus hanging on for the silver. Gottwald had the fastest ski time, but never challenged either of the Finns, although he did move onto the podium for a bronze medal. Ackermann would finish fourth, but would best Gottwald in the 2001-02 World Cup race, and win that title again in 2002-03, as well as winning the 2003 World Championship.