Espen Bredesen

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

Espen Bredesen
Country	Norway
Born	(1968-02-02) 2 February 1968 Oslo, Norway
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Personal best	210 m (689 ft) Planica, 22 March 1997
World Cup career
Seasons	1989–1999
Individual wins	8
Indiv. podiums	21
Team podiums	5
Indiv. starts	156
Team starts	8
Overall titles	1 (1994)
Four Hills titles	1 (1994)
Medal record Men's ski jumping Olympic Games 1994 Lillehammer Individual NH 1994 Lillehammer Individual LH FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1993 Falun Individual LH 1993 Falun Team LH Men's ski flying FIS Ski Flying World Championships 1994 Planica Individual
Updated on 10 February 2016.

Career

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

Standings

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

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

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

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

Without and 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

1. Athlete profile: Espen Bredesen Sports Illustrated

• Espen Bredesen at the International Ski Federation
• Holmenkollen medalists - click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file (in Norwegian)
• Holmenkollen winners since 1892 - click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file (in Norwegian)

Records
Preceded by Toni Nieminen	World's longest ski jump 18 March 1994 – 22 March 1997	Succeeded by Lasse Ottesen