The Turning Point

This jump was one for the record books -- even if it was officially illegal.

A A A Comments By Eric Dexheimer Thursday, Oct 5 2000

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Verbal spotting is encouraged as yet another safety measure for aerial jumpers. The coach may use his ground perspective to keep the athlete in the proper midair position to assure a solid landing. If, for example, Chojnacki's turns were going too slowly, the coach could yell for him to "pull it in" -- tuck into a ball position to speed the rate of the revolutions. If the turns were happening too quickly, on the other hand, and he was in danger of landing on his face, Chojnacki would be told to "lay out" -- to extend his body to slow down his somersaults.

This time, however, little advice was necessary. "You're good, you're good!" the coach yelled, then, "Pull it in a little," and then, "Yeah!"

Up, up, over. over. over and over: Matt Chojnacki's banned jump.

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Chojnacki claims that his jump is the most complicated ever completed in any of the acrobatic sports. But other ski jumpers are close behind him, and records tend to get left behind quickly in such an ambitious environment. So Chojnacki's record leap probably won't last long. In fact, he has a prediction for when it will be broken.

"I have a feeling I'm going to do a quintuple somersault in the next 24 months," he says.