The "Bad Boy" of ski jumping - portrait of Harri Olli
(source: hiihtoliitto.fi)
We seem to don't hear a lot about him in recent days. But the Finnish "Bad Boy" of ski jumping came back to the international rivalry this week in Willingen, after his return to this sport after over three years of break. What has changed?
At the beginning of his sport career he was seen as a huge talent, the next Matti Nykänen. But soon it turned out that he can't avoid the problems with law and alcohol. To the history past his crazy and irresponsible actions, like court judgments for driving drunk and brawls. When he "lost his way" during the World Flying Championships in Oberstdorf 2008 with two girls and huge amounts of alcohol the head coach of the national team decided to throw him away from the Finnish team. But Harri came back in the summer and started to win again - one thing was certain, the alcohol couldn't break his talent. The next winter season 2008/2009 was the best for him - he win in the World Cups three times in Oberstdorf, Lillehammer and Planica, and in the overall ranking was 4th. But the next seasons were weak for him and he decided to end his career in a "great" style - he showed to the camera his middle finger after that the jury allowed him to jump in Kuusamo in bad weather conditions.
But now it seems that the old Olli is gone. He tried to return in the past few years, but never with a success. Now the situation is different. He started to study Mathematics at the University of Rovaniemi, returned to trainings, got married, became the father, his health problems gone away and he is on the right way to be a good jumper again.
The great thing is that ski jumping fans still remember about him and support him in many ways. We still have in memory his moments of glory - silver medal of the 2007 World Championships in Sapporo on the big hill, three World Cup victories, the record of the ski flying hill in Oberstdorf, but mostly ski jumping fans remember him as an unruly athlete. Now Harri Olli has changed - he grown up, he isn't the "Bad Boy" anymore. We hope that he will come back to good shape soon and show everyone that the return of the prodigal son is possible and will help the Finnish team to reach the top again!
By Anna Sobol
