Remembering Finnish Ski Jumping legend Niilo Halonen

Finnish ski jumping pioneer Niilo Halonen has died at the age of 84.

Born in Kouvola on December 25, 1940, Halonen finished 14th at the 1958 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti at just 17. He went on to win silver at the 1960 Olympic Winter Games in Squaw Valley and a Large Hill bronze at the 1962 Nordic World Ski Championships in Zakopane.

An ankle ligament tear in 1967 curtailed his competitive peak, and he retired in 1969 to work as a physical education teacher. In 1976, he was appointed head coach by the Finnish Ski Association for Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined, ushering in more than a decade of Finnish dominance. Under his leadership, Tapio Räisänen won Large Hill gold at Lahti 1978, and Halonen introduced stricter team culture and sports science support, including a sports psychiatrist and meditation.

His era produced major champions: Jouko Törmänen won Olympic gold at Lake Placid 1980; Matti Nykänen emerged as one of the greatest ski jumpers ever with 10 global golds; and Jari Puikkonen collected world and Olympic medals. Finland also captured the first Olympic team gold in ski jumping at Calgary 1988, where Nykänen won both individual titles. Tuomo Ylipulli was part of that team, while his brother Jukka earned Nordic Combined Olympic bronze in Sarajevo 1984, also under Halonen’s guidance.

After Calgary, Halonen joined FIS as its first Race Director for Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined, helping professionalize and steer the sports. The foundations he laid continued to benefit Finnish jumping with stars like Ari-Pekka Nikkola, Toni Nieminen, Jani Soininen, and Janne Ahonen. He later served as a ski jumping judge, including at the 1997 World Championships in Trondheim, and retired in 2000, the year he tragically lost his son Kari in a jet ski accident.

In later years, he enjoyed golf with friend and former teammate, 1964 Olympic champion Veikko Kankkonen. Beyond his own medals, Halonen is remembered as the architect of Finland’s ski jumping supremacy across nearly three decades. FIS extends condolences to his family and friends.