Welcome to my Simon Ammann page! I was breathlessly watching the Olympics, February 2002 never knowing that I would soon come to love a new sport. I was glued to my couch the whole two weeks switching between NBC, CNBC, and MSNBC. I watched everything from my usual favorite sport, figure skating, to my first view of curling. It was between my channel surfing that I came upon him - Swiss ski jumper, Simon Ammann. He was soaring above the Salt Lake City games, just him and the wind. I was awestuck. I found myself cheering for him rather than the American skiers, which is a little out of the ordinary for me if its a sport I am unfamiliar with. I had never seen ski jumping before. When he landed and won the gold, he gave a victory cry and spoke to the commentators with great charisma and pure joy. I was hooked.

He was the underdog, my favorite kind of victor. Only a month prior to the Olympic games, Simon suffered a concussion when he crashed at a World Cup event in Willingen, Germany. Few expected him to be in the top 10, much less win gold at the Olympics. He won gold twice! Both K90 and K120!

When he came out to receive his first gold medal he wore a silver cloak and small round dark rimmed glasses. I was struck again. Both his apparal and his small 120 lb frame made him look exactly like Harry Porter! When asked about his resemblance to famous literary wizard, Ammann said,"It's true that we do resemble each other," he said. "But I don't think there was a fairy wand waved over me. All of this is a bit unexpected, and it's as though I'm in a dream, it's true."

Simon grew up in Unterwasser, Switzerland. He began ski jumping at eight years of age as something to do in his small town of only about 1,000 people.

Read an article about him here in Sport Illustrated.

To chat with other Simon fans, go to his forum, here.

For the latest on ski jumping with results and coming events, visit the International Ski Federation website.