On Saturday, 19 February, Janne Ahonen aims to become the most successful Ski Jumper in the history of the World Nordic Skiing Championships. The Finn, who has dominated the 2004/2005 Ski Jumping season, could win his fifth World Championship gold when he takes part in the Individual-Normal Hill event.

If Ahonen emerges victorious he will surpass Norway's Birger Ruud as the most decorated Ski Jumper in the competition. If he wins a medal of any sort, he will equal the record for most total medals won in the competition.

Most successful participants in Ski Jumping - World Nordic Skiing Championships Rank Name Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total First medal Last medal
1 Birger Ruud NOR 5 2 0 7 1931 1948
=2 Ari-Pekka Nikkola FIN 4 2 1 7 1987 1997
=2 Janne Ahonen FIN 4 2 1 7 1995 2003
4 Matti Nykänen FIN 4 1 3 8 1982 1989
5 Martin Schmitt GER 4 1 2 7 1997 2001
6 Jari Puikkonen FIN 3 2 2 7 1980 1989
7 Adam Malysz POL 3 1 0 4 2001 2003
8 Hans-Georg Aschenbach GDR 3 0 0 3 1974 1976

Most medals won in Ski Jumping - World Nordic Skiing Championships
Total Name Nation Gold Silver Bronze First medal Last medal
8 Matti Nykänen FIN 4 1 3 1982 1989
8 Jens Weißflog GDR,GER 2 2 4 1985 1995
7 Birger Ruud NOR 5 2 0 1931 1948
7 Ari-Pekka Nikkola FIN 4 2 1 1987 1997
7 Janne Ahonen FIN 4 2 1 1995 2003
7 Martin Schmitt GER 4 1 2 1997 2001
7 Jari Puikkonen FIN 3 2 2 1980 1989
7 Andreas Goldberger AUT 1 2 4 1993 2001
6 Andreas Felder AUT 2 3 1 1982 1991
6 Masahiko Harada JPN 2 3 1 1993 1999

On Friday, 18 February, the World Bobsleigh Championships start in Calgary, Canada. Local boy Pierre Lueders is favourite to win the World title in the 2-Man event. The 34-year-old Canadian has finished in the top two in six out of seven World Cup races this season. He finished second in the World Cup individual ranking only 10 points short of overall winner Martin Annen from Switzerland.

The last time the host country won the 2-Man World Title was five years ago when Christoph Langen and Markus Zimmermann claimed the 2-Man crown in Altenberg, Germany. So far only Switzerland, Italy, Germany and the United States have won a World Bobsleigh Title in the 2-Man event on home soil.

Winning 2-Man World Bobsleigh Championship on home soil Year Winners Nation Location
2000 Christoph Langen/Markus Zimmermann GER Altenberg
1999 Günther Huber/Enrico Costa/Ubaldo Ranzi ITA Cortina d'Ampezzo
1995 Christoph Langen/Olaf Hampel GER Winterberg
1991 Rudi Lochner/Markus Zimmermann GER Altenberg
1990 Gustav Weder/Bruno Gerber SUI St. Moritz
1987 Ralph Pichler/Celest Poltera SUI St. Moritz
1982 Erich Schärer/Max Rüegg SUI St. Moritz
1977 Hans Hiltebrand/Heinz Meier SUI St. Moritz
1975 Giorgio Alvera/Franco Perruquet ITA Cervinia
1971 Gianfranco Gaspari/Mario Armano ITA Cervinia
1966 Eugenio Monti/Sergio Siorpaes ITA Cortina d'Ampezzo
1960 Eugenio Monti/Renzo Alvera ITA Cortina d'Ampezzo
1956 Lamberto dalla Costa/Giacomo Conti ITA Cortina d'Ampezzo
1955 Fritz Feierabend/Harry Warburton SUI St. Moritz
1954 Guglielmo Scheibmeier/Andrea Zambelli ITA Cortina d'Ampezzo
1948 Felix Endrich/Fritz Waller SUI St. Moritz
1947 Fritz Feierabend/Stephan Waser SUI St. Moritz
1932 Hubert Stevens/Curtis Stevens USA Lake Placid
1931 Hanns Kilian/Sebastian Huber GER Oberhof

Most wins by host - 2-Man World Bobsleigh Championship # Country Years
7 Switzerland 1947, 1948, 1955, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1990
7 Italy 1954, 1956, 1960, 1966, 1971, 1975, 1999
4 Germany 1931, 1991, 1995, 2000
1 United States 1932

Football Fact
France have had 99 different players score goals in the Champions League main competition, a total that leads all other nations in the history of the competition. France are followed by Brazil and Germany which have had 77 and 64 players score goals respectively. On 22-23 February the milestone can be attained when the Champions League resumes after the winter break.

France's top scorer in the competition is Thierry Henry, who has netted 35 times. The first Frenchman on a Champions League scoresheet was Olympique Marseille's Franck Sauzée on 9 December 1992. The 99th and last Frenchman to join the Champions League goalscorers was Lyon's Bryan Bergougnoux on 8 December 2004.

Nations with most different goalscorers in Champions League # Nation Goals Leading goalscorer
99 France 271 Thierry Henry (35)
77 Brazil 320 Mário Jardel, Rivaldo (25)
64 Germany 204 Carsten Jancker (13)
60 Netherlands 235 Ruud van Nistelrooy (42)
59 Spain 265 Raúl (49)
56 Italy 235 Alessandro Del Piero (34)
43 England 160 Paul Scholes, Andy Cole (18)
39 Russia 98 Andrei Tikhonov (8)
35 Norway 134 Ole Gunnar Solskjær (19)
35 Portugal 85 Luis Figo (23)

Milestone Champions League goalscorers for France # Goalscorer Match Date
90 Pierre-Alain Frau Olympique Lyon - Manchester United 2-2 15 Sep 2004
80 Hassan Ahamada Bayern München - FC Nantes 2-1 19 Mar 2002
70 Bruno Cheyrou Lille OSC - Olympiacos 3-1 25 Sep 2001
60 Sidney Govou Olympique Lyon - Bayern München 3-0 06 Mar 2001
50 Marc Zanotti Fiorentina - Girondins Bordeaux 3-3 21 Mar 2000
40 Robert Pires Olympique Marseille - Sturm Graz 2-0 14 Sep 1999
30 Franck Gava Paris Saint-Germain - Bayern München 3-1 05 Nov 1997
20 Frédéric Danjou Grasshoppers - AJ Auxerre 3-1 30 Oct 1996
10 Paul le Guen Spartak Moskva - Paris Saint-Germain 1-2 28 Sep 1994
1 Franck Sauzée Olympique Marseille - Club Brugge 3-0 09 Dec 1992

Match of the Week: Bayern München - Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund finally seem to have rediscovered their form in the new calendar year and they will need the confidence travelling to league leaders Bayern München on Saturday, 19 February. Bayern themselves overcame a shaky start with a great November, the month since which they have topped the Bundesliga table.

Dortmund were ranked only 15th among Bundesliga teams in that month and the slump helped contribute to their 14th spot in the league table by year's end. However, Dortmund have been among the top four Bundesliga teams in both January and February and are slowly climbing up the rankings again.

Where did they rank within each month? - 2004/2005 Bundesliga season Month Bayern München Borussia Dortmund Best performers
February 8th* 4th* Hertha BSC
January 3rd 4th Bayer Leverkusen
December 11th 13th Hertha BSC
November 1st 15th Bayern München
October 5th 11th Hannover 96
September 3rd 10th VfL Wolfsburg
August 10th 8th Bayer Leverkusen
* Rank as of 17 Feb 2005

Where did they rank at the end of each month? - 2004/2005 Bundesliga season Month Bayern München Borussia Dortmund Topped table
February 1st* 11th* TBD
January 1st 13th Bayern München
December 1st 14th Bayern München
November 1st 13th Bayern München
October 5th 11th VfL Wolfsburg
September 4th 8th VfL Wolfsburg
August 10th 8th Bayer Leverkusen
* Rank as of 17 Feb 2005

Spotlight
With a 150 point lead in the World Cup 500m classification, Canadian Speed Skater Jeremy Wotherspoon is expected to wrap up the 12th classification victory of his career in the season's final two 500m races in Heerenveen on Friday, 18 February and Saturday, 19 February. He would then overtake Bonnie Blair as the second most successful Speed Skater in World Cup races ever. Only Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann would remain ahead of Wotherspoon.

Wotherspoon has won at least one classification in each of the last seven years and victory this year will make it eight years in a row with a title. However, his success is now confined to the 500m distance. He won the 1000m in five seasons in a row from 1997/1998 but has not achieved a title at that distance since 2001/2002.

Jeremy Wotherspoon Name Jeremy Wotherspoon
Date of birth 26 Oct 1976
Place of birth Humboldt, CAN
Nation Canada
Height 1.89 m
Weight 82 kg

Most Speed Skating World Cup classification wins Wins Name Gender Nation First Win Last Win Classifications
19 Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann F GDR, GER 1989/1990 2000/2001 1500m, 3000/5000m
11 Jeremy Wotherspoon M CAN 1997/1998 2003/2004 500m, 1000m
11 Bonnie Blair F USA 1986/1987 1994/1995 500m, 1000m, 1500m
7 Dan Jansen M USA 1985/1986 1993/1994 500m, 1000m
7 Monique Garbrecht-Enfeldt F GER 1990/1991 2002/2003 500m, 1000m
6 Uwe-Jens Mey M GDR, GER 1987/1988 1990/1991 500m, 1000m

World Cup classification victories - Jeremy Wotherspoon Edition Wins
2003/2004 500m
2002/2003 500m
2001/2002 500m, 1000m
2000/2001 1000m
1999/2000 500m, 1000m
1998/1999 500m, 1000m
1997/1998 500m, 1000m

Spotlight
Benjamin Raich completed his very successful campaign at the World Alpine Skiing Championships in Bormio by winning the gold medal in the men's Slalom event. It was Raich's second gold medal and his fourth overall at the Championships in Bormio. Raich therefore became only the fifth Alpine Skier ever to win at least four medals at a single World Championships.

Raich also joined the ranks of the elite of Austrian male skiers who have won two or more gold career medals at the World Alpine Championships. Only six skiers from Austria had reached this milestone before him.

Benjamin Raich
Name Benjamin Raich
Date of birth 28 Jan 1978
Place of birth Arzl im Pitztal, AUT
Nation Austria
Height 1.81 m
Weight 75 kg


Most individual medals in one World Alpine Skiing Championships edition
Total Person Nation Edition Venue Gender 1st 2nd 3rd
5 Lasse Kjus NOR 1999 Vail, CO, USA M 2 (SG, GS) 3 (DH, SL, K 0
4 Anton Sailer AUT 1958 Badgastein, AUT M 3 (DH, GS, K 1 (SL) 0
4 Marielle Goitschel FRA 1966 Portillo, CHI F 3 (DH, GS, K 1 (SL) 0
4 Pirmin Zurbriggen SUI 1987 Crans-Montana, SUI M 2 (SG, GS) 2 (DH, K 0
4 Benjamin Raich AUT 2005 Bormio, ITA M 2 (SL, K 1 (GS) 1 (SG)
Note: World Championships editions which were part of the Olympic Games (1948-1980) are not included.

Most successful Austrian skiers at World Alpine Skiing Championships - Men
Rank Name Gold Silver Bronze Total First gold Last gold
1 Anton Seelos 4 1 0 5 1933 1935
2 Hermann Maier 3 2 1 6 1999 2005
3 Karl Schranz 3 1 1 5 1962 1970
=4 Anton Sailer 3 1 0 4 1958 1958
=4 Stefan Eberharter 3 1 0 4 1991 2003
6 Rudolf Nierlich 3 0 0 3 1989 1991
7 Benjamin Raich 2 2 1 5 2005 2005
Note: Skiers active in 2005 in bold. World Championships editions which were part of the Olympic Games (1948-1980) are not included.

Spotlight
On Sunday, 6 February, Janica Kostelic won the women's Downhill event at the World Alpine Skiing Championships. This marked the second gold medal at these championships for Kostelic, who had earlier won the Combination, and the fourth in total. With the Slalom, Kostelic (and Anja Pärson) can become the first woman to win three gold medals in one edition since Erika Hess in 1982.

Kostelic's total of four gold medals at these championships is still a long way of the record which was set by German Christel Cranz who won a whopping 12 gold medals between 1934 and 1939.

Janica Kostelic
Name Janica Kostelic
Date of birth 05 Jan 1982
Place of birth Zagreb, CRO
Nation Croatia
Height 1.75 m
Weight 76 kg

Most successful skiers at World Championships - Women
Name Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total First gold Last gold
Christel Cranz GER 12 3 0 15 1934 1939
Erika Hess SUI 6 0 0 6 1982 1987
Marielle Goitschel FRA 4 2 0 6 1962 1966
Pernilla Wiberg SWE 4 1 1 6 1991 1999
Anja Pärson SWE 4 1 1 6 2001 2005
Annemarie Moser-Pröll AUT 4 0 2 6 1970 1978
Janica Kostelic CRO 4 0 0 4 2003 2005
World Championships editions which were part of the Olympic Games (1948-1980) are not included.