The Return of the King - portrait of Anders Jacobsen
As a junior he didn't achieve good results. He took part in the international rivalry for the first time just before his 18th birthday. He competed in the Continental Cup in the season 2005/2006, but without big success. How is it possible that an unknown ski-jumper from Hønefoss, Norway became one of the best ski-jumpers in history? It all began in summer.
In the summer of 2006 Anders Jacobsen debuted in a Summer Grand Prix competition. In his first SGP competition he was ranked on the 8th position and in the general classification he took the 10th place. Good results in summer competitions resulted with the appointment to the Norwegian national team in ski-jumping for the 2006/2007 season. He debuted in the World-Cup in Finnish Kuusamo with great result - he stood on the lowest step of the podium. During the whole season he was keeping that great shape and won four World-Cup competitions, but what is most important: He took the victory in the Four-Hills-Tournament. He became the youngest Norwegian ski-jumper in history to win the Four-Hills-Tournament at the age of 21. For the victory in the World-Cup general classification he fought until the end with Poland's Adam Małysz, and eventually he took the second place. Never before a rookie was able to take such a high position in the overall World-Cup standings.
In the later seasons he always ranked in the Top 10, but didn't achieve such good results as in his debut season. After a bad season in 2010/2011, he decided to suspend his sport career in May 2011, giving lack of motivation as the reason. In February 2012 he came back to jumping and before the season 2012/2013 he found himself in the B-Team of the Norwegian national team. He got a chance to take part in World-Cup competitions and for the first time after his come back Jacobsen won in Oberstdorf. The whole 61. Four Hills Tournament was great for him. He regained his confidence and together with Anders Bardal he became the leader of the Norwegian team. He took part in the World-Championships in 2013 and got the bronze medal on the large hill.
Unfortunately, at the season ending event in Planica the Norwegian fell and tore the cruciate ligaments of his knee. He underwent surgery and went through a long rehabilitation.
"- After what happened in Planica, I considered the possibility of ending my sporting career. I thought about this many times, also recently, when I didn't reach satisfactory results in competitions. However, I made the decision to withdraw from the races to try to get in shape alone. I'm glad that this solution has worked -" glad Jacobsen said.
But at the beginning of this season it didn't seem that Jacobsen came back to good shape. He found himself in the Top 30 only once, when he was ranked on 25th position in Klingenthal.
The head coach of the national team gave him the opportunity to perform in the Four-Hills-Tournament and Jacobsen didn't disappoint. In Oberstdorf he finished 15th and in Garmisch-Partenkirchen he was unbeatable, from trainings, through qualifications to the main competition. "It feels great to be back on the podium. It was one of my best competitions in my career, and who knows, if not the best, because a week ago I was at the bottom." - said Jacobsen after the New Year's competition.
The career of Anders Jacobsen is full of ups and downs. It's great that the 30-year-old Norwegian ski-jumper still has the power and motivation to compete at the highest level. Fans can now see a smile on his face again, although he says that he must now calm down and focus on the next competition. We have no doubts - Anders Jacobsen returned.
- by Anna Sobol
