Normal Hill, Individual, Men

Expectations of a home victory where high as the Olympic Games visited Japan for a second time and the knowledge that the greatest moment in Japanese winter sports history came in this very event in Sapporo, when the Japanese jumpers swept the medals, meant that eyes of the host nation were firmly fixed on this competition and the nation’s quartet of world class jumpers. Masahiko Harada, the world champion on the large hill, was joined by 1998 Four hills champion Kazuyoshi Funaki and Hiroya Saito, who had produced an impressive run of form in the early part of 1998. Standing between Japan and the ultimate prize were a host of strong European challengers. World Cup winner Primož Peterka hoped to win a first winter medal for Slovenia, World Champion Janne Ahonen flew the flag for Finland and spearheaded by Dieter Thoma, the German team were once again strong.

At the halfway point in the competition the Japanese dream appeared to be coming true. Harada, with a leap of 91.5 m, held the lead and his three teammates all placed within the top seven. The foreign threat came from the fast improving Austrian Andreas Widhölzl and Jani Soininen, a Finn with a reputation for producing wildly varying distances within the same competition. Kazuyoshi Funaki overtook Widhölzl with his second round and led with only the two first round leaders to jump. Soininen’s leap, though not as far as Funaki’s, was enough to put him a point of Funaki but this left a clear opportunity for Harada to clinch the title. Needing a jump of around 88 m to win, Harada fell short and posted just 84.5 m sending him down from 1st to 5th and, for the second successive Games, the image of a distraught Harada was flashed around the World.