Toni Markus Nieminen (born 31 May 1975) is a Finnish former ski jumper who competed from 1991 to 2004, with a brief comeback in 2016. He is one of the most successful ski jumpers from Finland, having won both the World Cup overall title and the Four Hills Tournament in 1992, and three medals at the 1992 Winter Olympics. He remains the youngest ever Winter Olympic gold medalist, at 16 years and 261 days.[1] Additionally, he is known for being the first male ski jumper to land a jump surpassing 200 metres (660 ft), which he achieved in 1994 with a world record of 203 m (666 ft) on the ski flying hill in Planica.
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Nieminen's biggest success came in his first World Cup season in 1991/92. At the time, the transition from the parallel style to the V-style was taking place and Nieminen was one of the first to master the new technique.
Nieminen took his first World Cup victory in Thunder Bay, in December 1991. Then he went on to win the Four Hills Tournament with 3 victories and one 2nd place. At the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, Nieminen won the large hill and the Team large hill, placing third in the normal hill. In the World Cup, Nieminen took a total of 8 victories securing also the overall title. Additionally, Nieminen won the World Junior Championship in both the Individual and the Team competitions. Nieminen was chosen as the Finnish Sports Personality of the Year 1992.
In the following seasons, Nieminen showed only glimpses of his great talent. In 1994, he became the first ever ski jumper to break the 200 metre barrier at Planica, with a world record of 203 m. Out of his total of 9 individual World Cup victories, only one came after the 1991/92 season, in Kuopio 1995. In World Cup team competitions, Nieminen scored one victory, in Villach 2001.
After retiring from ski jumping in 2004, Nieminen has worked as a sports commentator for Finnish MTV3. He has also competed as a driver in harness racing.
Nieminen made a comeback on 30 January 2016 finishing 17th in normal hill Finnish championship. Nieminen said that his target is to make a comeback to the World Cup.
