Daniel Forfang
Encyclopedia
Daniel Forfang is a former Norwegian
ski jumper. He had thirty-four World Cup
starts, with a fifth place in Kuusamo
in 2005 as his best individual result. He also helped win a team competition in Lahti the same year. Forfang retired ahead of the 2006–07 season, feeling that he could not continue the ski jumper's lifestyle, especially pertaining to the pressure of maintaining a low body weight
.
, during his active career he was managed by his father Hugo. Forfang moved to Trondheim at the age of sixteen, and became affiliated with the regional team Trønderhopp.
Forfang made his international debut in November 2001, with a seventh and eleventh place in two Continental Cup
events in Kuusamo
. He followed up with a seventh place in Lahti
one month later, as well as several good results after New Year, including a third place in Courchevel
in January. He had made his WorldCup debut in Predazzo
in December, and achieved a fourteenth place in Hakuba and a seventh place in Sapporo in January. The 2002–03 season saw Forfang continue his good Continental Cup run, with a double victory in Zakopane
in February. However, he did not make it to the final of any World Cup event, the closest being two 32nd places. He did win a silver medal at the Norwegian normal hill championships, albeit in the absence of Romøren
, Pettersen
, Ljøkelsøy
and Bystøl
. In the 2003–04 season he only competed in one World Cup event, and achieved a second place as the best result in the Continental Cup. Citing personal problems as well as economic hardships (there was little money to be made from the sport), he stated that he had contemplated retirement; however, in March 2004 he made progress as he broke the 200-metre barrer in the hill Vikersundbakken
. He was the first person from Northern Norway to achieve this feat.
meet in Zakopane, with a new hill record of 139.5 metres. He then won the next two Grand Prix events, and was subsequently promoted to the Norwegian national team. He then won the next two Grand Prix events, and was tipped by some as an outsider to win the entire World Cup. In November he secured sponsorship money from twenty companies in his local Troms
. He had previously worked odd part-time jobs parallel to training. Forfang also signed a deal with ski provider Rossignol
.
In late 2004, then, Forfang established himself in the World Cup. He finished seventeenth in the season opener in Kuusamo in November, following a fall in the second round. Weeks later he was hospitalized following another fall. However, he followed up with participation in the Four Hills Tournament
around New Year, reaching the final round in Oberstdorf
and Bischofshofen
. He then reached the top ten for the first time in a World Cup race, with a tenth place in ski flying in Tauplitz
. He later improved to a ninth place in Holmenkollen
in March, and also helped win a team competition in Lahti.
were staged in March, but Forfang was not included in the Norwegian squad. In the summer of 2006 his place on the national team was not renewed. He had also lost the deal with Rossignol, who backed out of ski jumping altogether.
introduced a rule under which ski jumpers faced sanctions if found to have a body mass index
less than a certain level. At that time, director of the Norwegian national team Jan Erik Aalbu described the new rule as "perfect" for Daniel Forfang. A few months later, Norwegian national coach Mika Kojonkoski
repeated that the new rule was an advantage to Forfang, seeing as he was relatively large-built compared to other ski jumpers. Standing at and weighing about 70 kilograms (154.3 lb), Forfang had been described by the Norwegian newspaper VG
as a "muscle man". Kojonkoski later elaborated that Forfang's success "reinstated the ski jumping world's faith" in that "larger" sportspeople have a future in the sport.
In August 2006, Forfang decided to retire. It surfaced that Forfang had struggled with weight issues over a longer period, and that the request for physiological and psychological help from Olympiatoppen
in January the same year had been fruitless. Forfang ultimately grew jaded of focusing on nutrition "80%" of the time. He claimed that the ski jumper's diet consisted of "half an apple for breakfast, a light salad for lunch, chicken salad for dinner and one crisp bread
for supper—in addition to litres upon litres of water and coffee".
Forfang later became a ski jumping coach in Trønderhopp.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
ski jumper. He had thirty-four World Cup
Ski jumping World Cup
The FIS Ski Jumping World Cup is a ski jumping tournament held yearly by the International Ski Federation since 1979–80 season.- World Cup points :...
starts, with a fifth place in Kuusamo
Kuusamo
Kuusamo is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in the Oulu province and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is ....
in 2005 as his best individual result. He also helped win a team competition in Lahti the same year. Forfang retired ahead of the 2006–07 season, feeling that he could not continue the ski jumper's lifestyle, especially pertaining to the pressure of maintaining a low body weight
Body weight
The term body weight is used in daily English speech as well as in the contexts of biological and medical sciences to describe the mass of an organism's body. Body weight is measured in kilograms throughout the world, although in some countries it is still measured in pounds or stones and pounds...
.
Early life and career
Growing up in TromsøTromsø
Tromsø is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.Tromsø city is the ninth largest urban area in Norway by population, and the seventh largest city in Norway by population...
, during his active career he was managed by his father Hugo. Forfang moved to Trondheim at the age of sixteen, and became affiliated with the regional team Trønderhopp.
Forfang made his international debut in November 2001, with a seventh and eleventh place in two Continental Cup
Ski jumping Continental Cup
The FIS Ski Jumping Continental Cup is arranged yearly by the International Ski Federation . It's the second-highest ski jumping season-long competition, only surpassed by the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup. The cup usually consist of juniors, or jumpers who are fighting for a spot on their nation's...
events in Kuusamo
Kuusamo
Kuusamo is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in the Oulu province and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is ....
. He followed up with a seventh place in Lahti
Lahti
Lahti is a city and municipality in Finland.Lahti is the capital of the Päijänne Tavastia region. It is situated on a bay at the southern end of lake Vesijärvi about north-east of the capital Helsinki...
one month later, as well as several good results after New Year, including a third place in Courchevel
Courchevel
Courchevel is the name of a ski resort located in the commune of Saint-Bon-Tarentaise in the French Alps, in the Tarentaise Valley, Savoie, Rhône-Alpes region. It is a part of Les Trois Vallées, the largest linked ski area in the world...
in January. He had made his WorldCup debut in Predazzo
Predazzo
Predazzo is a comune of c. 4,400 inhabitants in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 45 km northeast of Trento in the Val di Fiemme, at the confluence of the Travignolo stream with that Avisio River.The municipality of Predazzo contains the...
in December, and achieved a fourteenth place in Hakuba and a seventh place in Sapporo in January. The 2002–03 season saw Forfang continue his good Continental Cup run, with a double victory in Zakopane
Zakopane
Zakopane , is a town in southern Poland. It lies in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998 it was in of Nowy Sącz Province, but since 1999 it has been in Lesser Poland Province. It had a population of about 28,000 as of 2004. Zakopane is a...
in February. However, he did not make it to the final of any World Cup event, the closest being two 32nd places. He did win a silver medal at the Norwegian normal hill championships, albeit in the absence of Romøren
Bjørn Einar Romøren
Bjørn Einar Romøren is a Norwegian ski jumper representing Øvrevoll Hosle IL in Bærum.His first World Cup victory came in Bischofshofen, Austria during the Four Hills Tournament in January 2003. He has later won several World Cup competitions as well as two FIS Nordic World Ski Championships...
, Pettersen
Sigurd Pettersen
Sigurd Pettersen is a Norwegian ski jumper . His greatest achievement is winning the Four Hills Tournament in Oberstdorf, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Innsbruck and Bischofshofen in 2003....
, Ljøkelsøy
Roar Ljøkelsøy
Roar Ljøkelsøy is a Norwegian ski jumper. Ljøkelsøy's early career was not particularly brilliant. While considered almost flawless technically, he did not win an individual World Cup event until 25 January 2003, at age 26...
and Bystøl
Lars Bystøl
Lars Bystøl is a Norwegian ski jumper who has won one Olympic gold medal, one World Cup event, two FIS Nordic World Ski Championships bronze medals in the team large hill events , and a gold medal in the FIS Ski Flying World Championships...
. In the 2003–04 season he only competed in one World Cup event, and achieved a second place as the best result in the Continental Cup. Citing personal problems as well as economic hardships (there was little money to be made from the sport), he stated that he had contemplated retirement; however, in March 2004 he made progress as he broke the 200-metre barrer in the hill Vikersundbakken
Vikersundbakken
Vikersundbakken is the only ski flying hill in the Nordic countries. With a hill and world record of 246,5 meters, Vikersundbakken is the world's largest ski jumping hill....
. He was the first person from Northern Norway to achieve this feat.
International breakthrough
In September 2004, Forfang announced his plans to establish himself among the world elite. On the same day he finished eighth in a Summer Grand PrixSki jumping Grand Prix
The FIS Ski Jumping Grand Prix is arranged yearly by the International Ski Federation . This summertime competition was first arranged in 1994, and is held on hills with plastic or grass surfaces...
meet in Zakopane, with a new hill record of 139.5 metres. He then won the next two Grand Prix events, and was subsequently promoted to the Norwegian national team. He then won the next two Grand Prix events, and was tipped by some as an outsider to win the entire World Cup. In November he secured sponsorship money from twenty companies in his local Troms
Troms
or Romsa is a county in North Norway, bordering Finnmark to the northeast and Nordland in the southwest. To the south is Norrbotten Län in Sweden and further southeast is a shorter border with Lapland Province in Finland. To the west is the Norwegian Sea...
. He had previously worked odd part-time jobs parallel to training. Forfang also signed a deal with ski provider Rossignol
Skis Rossignol
Skis Rossignol S.A., or simply Rossignol, is a French manufacturer of alpine, snowboard, and Nordic equipment, as well as related outerwear and accessories, located in Isère, France. Rossignol was one of the first companies to produce plastic skis. The company also owns the brand Dynastar as well...
.
In late 2004, then, Forfang established himself in the World Cup. He finished seventeenth in the season opener in Kuusamo in November, following a fall in the second round. Weeks later he was hospitalized following another fall. However, he followed up with participation in the Four Hills Tournament
Four Hills Tournament
The Four Hills Tournament is composed of four Ski Jumping World Cup events and has taken place in Germany and Austria each year since 1952.The Four Hills Tournament champion is the one who gets the most points over the four events...
around New Year, reaching the final round in Oberstdorf
Oberstdorf
Oberstdorf is a municipality and skiing and hiking town in southwest Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps.At the center of Oberstdorf is a church whose tall spire serves as a landmark for navigating around town. The summits of the Nebelhorn and Fellhorn provide...
and Bischofshofen
Bischofshofen
Bischofshofen is a city located in the Salzach valley in the Alps, in the District of Pongau, in Salzburgerland, Austria.The city is an important railway hub and lies at the Tauernautobahn, a highway route through the Alps....
. He then reached the top ten for the first time in a World Cup race, with a tenth place in ski flying in Tauplitz
Tauplitz
Tauplitz is a municipality in the district of Liezen in Styria, Austria....
. He later improved to a ninth place in Holmenkollen
Holmenkollen
Holmenkollen is a neighborhood in the Vestre Aker borough of Oslo, Norway. In addition to being a residential area, the area has been a ski recreation area since the late 19th century, with its famous, eponymous, ski jump arena hosting competitions since 1892...
in March, and also helped win a team competition in Lahti.
Decline and retirement
Forfang did not compete much in the 2005–06 season. Completely absent from the Continental Cup circuit, he competed in seven World Cup races between November and January. His season, and career, best result was the fifth place in Kuusamo in the season opener. His last result was a 30th place in Sapporo. The 2006 Winter Olympics2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...
were staged in March, but Forfang was not included in the Norwegian squad. In the summer of 2006 his place on the national team was not renewed. He had also lost the deal with Rossignol, who backed out of ski jumping altogether.
Weight controversy
In 2004 the International Ski FederationInternational Ski Federation
The International Ski Federation, known by its name in French, Fédération Internationale de Ski is the main international organisation for ski sports...
introduced a rule under which ski jumpers faced sanctions if found to have a body mass index
Body mass index
The body mass index , or Quetelet index, is a heuristic proxy for human body fat based on an individual's weight and height. BMI does not actually measure the percentage of body fat. It was invented between 1830 and 1850 by the Belgian polymath Adolphe Quetelet during the course of developing...
less than a certain level. At that time, director of the Norwegian national team Jan Erik Aalbu described the new rule as "perfect" for Daniel Forfang. A few months later, Norwegian national coach Mika Kojonkoski
Mika Kojonkoski
Mika Kojonkoski is a Finnish ski jumping coach and politician. Kojonkoski was a ski jumper himself in the 1980s, but he never reached the level of the best Finnish jumpers like Matti Nykänen...
repeated that the new rule was an advantage to Forfang, seeing as he was relatively large-built compared to other ski jumpers. Standing at and weighing about 70 kilograms (154.3 lb), Forfang had been described by the Norwegian newspaper VG
Verdens Gang
Verdens Gang , generally known under the abbreviation VG, is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper...
as a "muscle man". Kojonkoski later elaborated that Forfang's success "reinstated the ski jumping world's faith" in that "larger" sportspeople have a future in the sport.
In August 2006, Forfang decided to retire. It surfaced that Forfang had struggled with weight issues over a longer period, and that the request for physiological and psychological help from Olympiatoppen
Olympiatoppen
Olympiatoppen is an organisation that is part of Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports with responsibility for training Norwegian elite sport. Olympiatoppen is based at the Toppidrettssenteret between Norwegian School of Sport Sciences and Sognsvann. The leader of...
in January the same year had been fruitless. Forfang ultimately grew jaded of focusing on nutrition "80%" of the time. He claimed that the ski jumper's diet consisted of "half an apple for breakfast, a light salad for lunch, chicken salad for dinner and one crisp bread
Crisp bread
Crisp bread or hard bread is a flat and dry type of bread or cracker, containing mostly rye flour...
for supper—in addition to litres upon litres of water and coffee".
Forfang later became a ski jumping coach in Trønderhopp.