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On Monday Kasai announced that he wanted to jump further, on Wednesday Ammann did the same. “I plan to continue for two more years,” said the 38-year-old man on the website of the Swiss ski association Swiss-Ski. “My focus is on the next two main events, the World Cup in Oberstdorf 2021 and especially the 2022 Winter Olympics.” Last season had brought him closer to the ambition to keep going than the idea of giving up, and he hadn’t really gotten used to such thoughts since the beginning of the season.
“I wanted to jump a lot more in the top spots on multiple jumps over the winter, but unfortunately I was unsuccessful,” said Ammann. “The learning effects of last winter still give me a lot of confidence on the road. With the Olympics in mind, an athlete’s highest goal, I feel the strength to take on the daily tasks of a top athlete with a lot of momentum, and I am convinced that I will achieve the best results again. “
Kasai wasn’t tired even at 47
Despite a difficult winter, Kasai does not plan to stop. As on Monday, 47, he told Japanese portal Hochi.news, he even plans to participate in the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2022. “I want to show my performance and return to the World Cup with a view to participating in my ninth Olympic Games in Beijing, “emphasized Kasai, who attended Pyeongchang 2018 for the eighth time at the Olympics. No other winter athlete has ever done that before.
Last winter, however, the Japanese had not been really competitive and, for the first time in this millennium, they had missed the four-hill tour. But the 47-year-old doesn’t think about the end of his career, even in tough sports times. “When you have a goal, no time is wasted. I will keep fighting, “said Kasai. Before his two 2014 Olympic medals in Sochi (silver and bronze), he also won silver with the team in 1994 at Lillehammer.
World Cup debut in a completely different era
Kasai made his World Cup debut in Sapporo in December 1988, more than 31 years ago. With the two Poles Kamil Stoch (32), Piotr Zyla (33) and his compatriot Daiki Ito (34) there were only three jumpers in the current Top 30 in the world. At that time, the jump was still done in parallel style, only later did he switch to V style like all the others.
Kasai celebrated his first victory and one of the best moments of his career in March 1992 on the flying hill of Harrachov when he was 19 years old and not only achieved his first World Cup success, but was also crowned world ski champion of ski. In total, he was on top of the podium 17 times over the course of his career. Most recently, he accomplished this in Kuusamo in November 2014 at the age of 42 years and 176 days, raising his own record as the oldest World Cup winner once again. As the oldest jumper on the podium to date, he was skiing in Vikersund in March 2017 when he was second at 241.5 meters.
Kasai and Ammann share the last victory
Incidentally, Kasai had to share his last victory so far five and a half years ago with Ammann, who at the time celebrated his 23rd and final victory with exactly the same number of points. While Kasai will tackle his 32nd World Cup season, Ammann will have 24 next winter. The Toggenburger’s greatest success was a long time ago: in Salt Lake City in 2002 and eight years later in Vancouver, he won two gold medals at the Winter Games.
In the season that ended prematurely due to the crown virus, Ammann had only taken 35th place in the World Cup overall. The Swiss were also denied a victory on the four-hill tour just like Kasai. Twice (2008/09, 2010/11), and as often as the Japanese (1992/93, 1998/99), he finished second. He was very lucky on the 2015 tour when he fell ill after landing in Bischofshofen and went to the hospital with a concussion after a brief loss of consciousness. “If you fall like that, you stop or change something,” said Ammann at the time, who decided against the end of a run and instead refined his landing.
