Matti Ensio Nykänen (pronounced [ˈmɑtːi ˈnykænen] ; 17 July 1963 – 4 February 2019) was a Finnish ski jumper who competed from 1981 to 1991. Known as "The Flying Finn", he is one of the most successful ski jumpers of all time, having won five Winter Olympic medals (four gold), nine World Championship medals (five gold), and 22 Finnish Championship medals (14 gold). Most notably, he won three gold medals at the 1988 Winter Olympics, becoming, along with Yvonne van Gennip of the Netherlands, the most medaled athlete that winter.
Nykänen is one of only two ski jumpers in history – the other being Domen Prevc – to have won all five of the sport's major individual titles: a gold medal at the Winter Olympics (three times), the Ski Jumping World Championships (once), the Ski Flying World Championships (once), four World Cup overall titles, and the Four Hills Tournament (twice). His four World Cup titles is an all-time male record shared with Adam Małysz. Nykänen remains the only male five-time ski flying world record holder in history.
From the 1990s onwards, Nykänen's status as a celebrity was mainly fueled by his personal relationships, his career as a pop singer, and various incidents often related to heavy use of alcohol and violent behaviour. He was sentenced to 26 months in prison following a stabbing incident in 2004, and again for 16 months following an aggravated assault on his wife in 2009. He died in 2019 at the age of 55, suffering from chronic pancreatitis.
For most of the 1980s, Nykänen and Jens Weißflog of East Germany dominated the sport. Nykänen won gold and silver at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. His 17.5-point gold medal victory was the largest margin of victory in Olympic ski jumping history at the time. He was also the first ever to win gold medals on both hills at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
In 1985 he flew 191 metres in Planica, a world record that stood briefly until Piotr Fijas (Poland) flew 194 metres, again in Planica, in 1987. His other achievements include a total of nine medals (five golds) at the World Championship level. He also won a total of 46 World Cup competitions (later surpassed by the current record-holder Gregor Schlierenzauer, Austria) and won the overall title four times (also a record, currently shared with Adam Małysz of Poland).
He won the prestigious Four Hills Tournament twice. He competed in the FIS Ski Flying World Championships five times and won a medal every time. Nykänen also won the ski jumping competition at the Holmenkollen Ski Festival twice (1982, 1985). In 1987, Nykänen was awarded the Holmenkollen Medal (shared with Hermann Weinbuch).
On 28 February 2008, he won the International Masters Championship for veteran ski jumpers.
The only one with five world records
On 16 March 1984, he set ski jumping world distance record on official training twice at 182 metres (597 ft). And on the next day at 185 metres (607 ft), all three in Oberstdorf, West Germany.
On 15 March 1985, he set two ski jumping world distance records on official training at 187 metres (614 ft) and at 191 metres (627 ft), both of them on Velikanka bratov Gorišek in Planica, Yugoslavia.
He set five world records in total, the most of any ski jumper in history.
Nykänen was married six times:
Tiina Hassinen (1986–1988), one son
Pia Hynninen (1989–1991), one daughter
Sari Paanala (1996–1998) (Nykänen changed his surname to Paanala during this marriage)
Mervi Tapola (2001–2003, remarried 2004–2010)
Pia Talonpoika (2014– his death)
Relationship with Mervi Tapola