Simon Ammann

Switzerland's Simon Ammann has won the first gold medal of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, winning the men's Normal Hill individual ski jumping event at Whistler.

The 29 year-old Ammann -- who broke the hill record with a second jump of 108m -- finished seven points ahead of silver medallist Adam Malysz of Poland. Ammann scored a 276.5 over two jumps, Adam Malysz of Poland scored a 269.5 while Gregor Schlierenzauer of Austria won the bronze with a score of 268.

Simon Ammann, who won two individual gold medals at the Salt Lake City Games in 2002, has joined Matti Nykanen and Jens Weiaflog as the only ski jumpers to have won three individual gold medals in Olympic competition.

At the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Games Ammann won both the Individual normal hill and Individual large hill competitions. Amman is now also the only individual to win two gold medals in the Men's Individual Normal Hill Ski Jump event.

Ammann was born in Grabs, Switzerland, to Margit and Hienrich Ammann and raised in Unterwasser, Switzerland. He has two brothers and three sisters.

He made his debut as a 16-year-old unknown during the 1997 - 1998 Ski jumping World Cup season. Ammann qualified for the 1998 Nagano Olympic Games, where he finished 35th and in the 2010 Vancouver Olympic games won gold as the first athlete to win a medal at those games.

2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games
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