It’s the kind of story that only the Olympic Games seem to produce: A talented ski jumper, who had yet to win anything of significance, delivers the performance of his life to win Olympic gold.

“I don’t know how I did it. But I’m so, so proud that I managed to do it,” Philipp Raimund told German public television moments after his his gold medal triumph in Predazzo, Italy.

“Now I’m simply an Olympic champion. Not having won a single World Cup (race) and then to be standing on the top step of the biggest stage, it’s unbelievable.”

Even harder to grasp is that the 25-year-old, who regularly launches himself from the top of dizzying ski jumps, also happens to suffer from a fear of heights.

Following his older brother

Raimund was born in 2000 in the southwestern town of Göppingen. He and his older brother Fabian started ski jumping as children.

“When I was almost five years old and watched my brother, there was no doubt in my mind: I’m going to be a ski jumper!” Philipp, nicknamed “Hille” Raimund, wrote on his website.

In 2005 and 2011, the family of six twice moved further south, eventually settling in the ski-jumping hotbed Oberstdorf. The two brothers needed larger jumps and more intensive training, and their father, Christian Raimund, got a job as a ski jumping coach at the Olympic training center.

His son Philipp initially tried his hand at Nordic combined, a sport that combines ski jumping and cross-country skiing.

“After a while, however, I threw my (cross-country ski) poles down into the snow and declared that I never wanted to torture myself like that again,” Raimund said of his decision to concentrate on ski jumping. If only it weren’t for his fear of heights.

‘Something gets a tight grip on me’

To combat the problem, the ski jumper worked with a mental coach. He can usually handle his fear of heights, Raimund says, “but from time to time I do have a problem (mainly during ski flying). My body takes over and I can’t control it. For about a second and a half, it’s like I am just observing myself while something has a tight grip on me.”

So, at the end of the 2024-25 season, Raimund didn’t compete in the Ski Flying World Cup on the Planica hill in Slovenia, known for its exceptionally long jumps. Slovenian Domen Prevc would set a new world record of 254.5 meters there.

Normal hills, like the one in the Olympic town of Predazzo, feature jumps of only around 110 meters. This suits Raimund much better.

Only quiet when nervous

Outwardly, the ski jumper appears anything but anxious or withdrawn.

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“Hille is a really funny and lively guy, I’d even say an extrovert. He’s extremely unpretentious,” teammate Karl Geiger once said.

“When I’m really nervous, I’m quiet. I might not speak for three hours,” Raimund himself has noted.

Coach Stefan Horngacher had to get used to Raimund’s manner at first.

“We’ve had some real arguments. Things got heated,” the Austrian recalled.

“But I get along really well with him now. He’s a really nice person and an incredible athlete.”

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‘Incredible technique’

But that alone isn’t enough to become an Olympic champion. Horngacher describes Raimund as “extremely athletic. He has incredible technique that very few people can execute.”

Nevertheless, in recent years Raimund has seldom managed to translate his immense talent into success. He rarely stood on the top step of the podium — and when he did, it was only in the team competition.

The fact that he celebrated his first major individual victory at the Olympics is a minor miracle.

“Unbelievable,” as Philipp Raimund himself puts it.

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This article was originally published in German.

Female Ski Jumping on the Rise

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EFL clubs are poised to vote next month on a significant proposal to expand the Championship play-offs to include six teams.

An extraordinary general meeting has been scheduled for March 5, where all 72 EFL clubs will convene to discuss the plans. The Football Association’s board has already given its approval to the proposed changes.

Should the motion pass, the new format could be introduced as early as next season, incorporating an eliminator round similar to the system currently used in the National League.

Under the proposed structure, the team finishing fifth in the league would face the eighth-placed side, while the sixth and seventh-placed teams would also compete.

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These initial encounters would be one-off ties, hosted at the home ground of the higher-ranked club.

The winners would then advance to a two-legged semi-final against the teams that finished third and fourth, culminating in the traditional Wembley final.

The FA board gave its backing despite reservations which have previously come from the Premier League, concerned over the possibility of declining standards if sides that finish eighth in the second tier make it to the top flight.

The regulation change which was approved by the EFL’s board last week must receive a simple majority backing from the the 72 clubs as a whole, and also within that the majority of the 24 Championship clubs.

Clubs have been consulted on the plans and they are expected to go through with a high level of support within the Championship, not only because it would keep the door open for more clubs in the promotion fight, but also reduce the number of dead-rubber league fixtures late in the season.

While the expansion plans are limited to the Championship play-offs for now, there is some interest in this being expanded to League One and League Two in the future.

Both the EFL and the FA declined to comment.

Drake Maye’s Super Bowl performance was not what he envisioned, throwing two interceptions and was sacked six times. Sunday’s game at Levi’s Stadium turned into one his worst outings.

Fox Sports’ Henry McKenna posted Maye’s comments on X on Monday. The quarterback said his wife was who he was looking forward to spending time with in the offseason. Fans reacted to it, especially after Tom Brady‘s statement about not backing the Patriots before reversing course.

“No wonder Tom Brady refused to root for him,” one fan tweeted.

“Should focus on not turning it over 10 times in the playoffs or not having the worst performance in SB history,” a fan wrote.

“Yikes,” another fan wrote.

“Whipped,” one fan commented.

“We get it, dude, you’re gonna be getting laid nonstop during the offseason,” a fan said.

“He was engineered in a lab to be a Patriot. LFG,” another fan commented.

Brady didn’t pick between New England and Seattle. Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy ripped him on social media, while his former teammates called him out.

He changed his tune on Friday and said Patriots owner Robert Kraft had his back and wanted New England to win its seventh Super Bowl. However, Brady also said he’d give his MVP vote to Matthew Stafford instead of Maye if he could.

Also Read: “Drake Maye looked like a student driver”: Colin Cowherd uses Lewis Hamilton to endorse $84,000,000 QB’s outing vs. dominant Seahawks defense

Also Read: “This Drake Maye tape is worse than I thought”: Ex-Packers QB claims Patriots QB was “seeing ghosts” vs. Seahawks in Super Bowl

Mike Vrabel won’t let anyone blame just Drake Maye for Super Bowl disaster

Mike Vrabel spoke to reporters after the loss and shut down any attempt to make Drake Maye the scapegoat. The coach said it starts with the staff and goes through every position on the field.

Protection broke down and running backs couldn’t get anything going. Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson managed just 42 yards on 13 attempts, whlle wide receivers didn’t help out.

Vrabel stressed that he’s excited to get back to work with Maye. He told his team they’re 307 days into building something and that it’s fine to feel disappointed. Maye will enter his third season and the Patriots believe he has a lot more to prove after the Super Bowl heartbreak.