Espen Bredesen (born 2 February 1968) is a Norwegian former ski jumper.

Espen Bredesen
Country Norway
Born (1968-02-02) 2 February 1968 (age 56)
Oslo, Norway
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Personal best210 m (689 ft)
Planica, 22 March 1997
World Cup career
Seasons19891999
Starts156
Podiums21
Wins8
Overall titles1 (1994)
Four Hills titles1 (1994)
Medal record
Men's ski jumping
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1994 Lillehammer Individual NH
Silver medal – second place 1994 Lillehammer Individual LH
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
Gold medal – first place 1993 Falun Individual LH
Gold medal – first place 1993 Falun Team LH
Men's ski flying
FIS Ski Flying World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1994 Planica Individual
Updated on 10 February 2016.

Career

edit

At World Cup level he won gold and silver medals at the 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer.

At the 1992 Winter Olympics, he performed badly, coming last in the normal hill and 57th out of 59 on the large hill. He had converted from the parallel technique to the V-style just a month previously. His poor performance gave him the nickname "Espen the Eagle", based on British ski jumper Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards.[1]

At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1993 in Falun, he won gold medals both in the team large hill and the individual large hill events. In the 1993/94 season, he won the Four Hills Tournament. He won gold and silver medals at the 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer, and won a silver medal at the FIS Ski-Flying World Championships 1994 in Planica. Bredesen twice beat the world ski flying record with jumps of 209 meters (1994) and 210 meters (1997).

Bredesen also won the ski jumping competition at the Holmenkollen ski festival in 1993. He was awarded the Holmenkollen medal in 1994 (shared with Ljubov Egorova and Vladimir Smirnov).

World Cup

edit

Standings

edit
 Season  Overall 4H SF NT JP
1989/90 N/A N/A
1990/91 34 21 23 N/A N/A
1991/92 34 26 18 N/A N/A
1992/93 5 33 5 N/A N/A
1993/94       N/A N/A
1994/95 15 21 13 N/A N/A
1995/96 13 21 10 N/A 13
1996/97 16 20 11 31 19
1997/98 43 45 26 55
1998/99 101 55 99
1999/00 79 76

Wins

edit
No. Season Date Location Hill Size
1 1992/93 11 March 1993     Lillehammer Lysgårdsbakken K120 LH
2 14 March 1993     Oslo Holmenkollbakken K110 LH
3 28 March 1993     Planica Bloudkova velikanka K120 LH
4 1993/94 11 December 1993     Planica Srednja Bloudkova K90 NH
5 1 January 1994     Garmisch-Partenkirchen Große Olympiaschanze K107 LH
6 6 January 1994     Bischofshofen Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze K120 LH
7 15 January 1994     Liberec Ještěd B K120 LH
8 1994/95 5 February 1995     Falun Lugnet K90 (night) NH

Ski jumping world record

edit
Date Hill Location Metres Feet
18 March 1994   Velikanka bratov Gorišek K185 Planica, Slovenia 209 686
22 March 1997   Velikanka bratov Gorišek K185 Planica, Slovenia 210 689

WR statement

edit

Bredesen's statement after his first world record in Planica 1994 when he jumped 209m:

Without any doubt this is my greatest life and career achievement. Nothing can compare with this world record. Not even my Olympic or world championships gold. Now I know how birds feel when they fly in the air.

References

edit
Records
Preceded by World's longest ski jump
18 March 1994 – 22 March 1997
Succeeded by