Jan Mazoch
Encyclopedia
Jan Mazoch is a former Czech
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

 ski jumper
Ski jumping
Ski jumping is a sport in which skiers go down a take-off ramp, jump and attempt to land as far as possible down the hill below. In addition to the length of the jump, judges give points for style. The skis used for ski jumping are wide and long...

. He became a regular member of the Czech national team in 2003. Mazoch was a member of the Czech delegation at the 2002
2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...

 and 2006 Winter Olympics
2006 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...

.

He is the grandson of legendary ski-jumper Jiří Raška
Jirí Raška
Jiří Raška is the most famous Czech ski jumper, Olympic winner and Czech skier of the century.- Early life :His father died of leukaemia when Jiří Raška was nine years old, leaving his mother to raise four children on her own. His interest in winter sports was not surprising. His cousin and...

. He has one daughter, Viktoria, born June 20, 2007.

Career highlights

Mazoch made his ski competition debut in the World Cup competition held on March 13, 2002 in Falun
Falun
Falun is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 36,447 inhabitants in 2005. It is also the capital of Dalarna County...

, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

. That same year, he competed in the Junior World Championship where he placed 9th and finished in 26th place at the Ski Flying World Championship. In his Winter Olympic Games debut at Salt Lake City, he placed 35th.

2003 proved somewhat better as he finished the Championship of the Czech Republic in 1st place.
He also took part in the World Championships in Val di Fiemme
Val di Fiemme
thumb|300px|Location of the Fiemme Valley in [[Trentino]].thumb|300px|The [[Lagorai]] seen from [[Passo Lusia]].Fiemme Valley is a valley in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region in northern Italy located in the Dolomites mountain region....

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

During the 2004 season, Mazoch took 2nd place at the FIS Continental Cup competition in Rovaniemi, Finland.

In 2005, he competed in the World Championship in Oberstdorf, Germany, where he earned 28th place in the individual competition and a 7th place in the team competition.

In 2006, he returned to Winter Olympic competition at the Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy where he placed 9th in the team large hill event.

Zakopane crash

During the 2007 season, Mazoch competed in the World Cup event 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...

, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 on January 20, 2007 where he posted a career-best 15th position after his first jump. On his second jump the wind lift
Lift (force)
A fluid flowing past the surface of a body exerts a surface force on it. Lift is the component of this force that is perpendicular to the oncoming flow direction. It contrasts with the drag force, which is the component of the surface force parallel to the flow direction...

 suddenly disappeared. As a result, Mazoch lost control just prior to landing and crashed to the ground.

Rescue personnel rushed Mazoch to a nearby medical facility where he remained in critical condition. Later that day he was transported to a hospital in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 where he was placed in a medically induced coma to prevent any further injuries. He had sustained serious brain injuries, but no other internal injuries and only some minor skin damage.

On January 22, Mazoch was brought out of the coma and transported to an undisclosed location in the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

 for rehabilitation.

Return to the Hill and End of Career

In August, 2007, barely 7 months after the Zakopane accident, Mazoch returned to the slopes and made his first jump. In September of that year he returned to competition at the Continental Cup event in Villach, Austria, where he finished 7th on the normal hill. The following year he began summer training for the 2008 season. He competed through the 2008 season but was never able to regain the form and confidence he'd known before. As a result, he chose to end his career.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK