Alan Alborn is giving up flying to take up flying.
The United States’ leading hope for a ski-jumping medal at the Winter Olympics finished a disappointing 34th Wednesday in the 120-meter hill individual competition–his best event–then stunningly announced his retirement from the sport.
He’s 21.
Alborn essentially said he wants to get a life after a nomadic existence for the last six years, starving himself to excel at the sport and having no friends his own age. After years of such sacrifices, Alborn said he hopes to attend college and become a commercial jet pilot. He has expressed similar sentiments before.
“I think it’s time,” Alborn said. “This is not something I want to do for four more years.”
As Alborn spoke, the final jumpers in the K120 competition at Utah Olympic Park were provoking roars from the crowd of 20,469 under bright sunshine on a brisk day.
Simon Ammann, 20, of Switzerland repeated his shocking performance of Sunday in the 90-meter hill for a second gold medal. Ammann had never even won a World Cup event.
Adam Malysz of Poland took silver and Matti Hautamaeki of Finland won bronze.
“I am trembling,” Ammann said. “I can’t believe it.”
The point totals at the top of the board read 281.4, 269.7 and 256.0.
Alborn, meanwhile, could not follow up his exceptional qualifying jumps. He turned in the eighth-best score Tuesday on the big hill, which is somewhat akin to jumping off a 12-story building with a mini-parachute. He had finished 11th on the normal hill. And earlier this season Alborn placed in the top six on the World Cup circuit three times. He expected better Wednesday.
“I’m a little bit shocked,” he said. “It’s pretty disappointing.”
Few American ski jumpers have made as significant an impact on the world scene. Alborn was regarded as the herald of a brighter future because the sport’s peak years–Ammann’s showing notwithstanding–generally are regarded as middle to late 20s.
Clint Jones, 17, of Steamboat Springs, Colo., was 42nd. He was the only other American to make it out of qualifying.
Ski jumpers are scored on a combination of distance achieved and form in the air. Alborn, who owns a small prop plane that he keeps in his home state of Alaska, always has said he loved the airborne floating feeling of ski jumping because it is like flying.
Wednesday began reasonably well. He recorded the 15th-best practice jump. Unpredictable winds, however, swirled at the top of the jump. Ski jumpers prefer a headwind because it keeps them higher longer. Tailwinds force jumpers down faster and Alborn caught a tailwind. His jump was only 93.5 meters, compared with Ammann’s 140.5, but it wasn’t immediately apparent how it would affect him.
More Top Picks Best Multi Cooker With Air Fryer
Alborn shook his head as he exited the enclosure at the base of the hill.
“With that wind at that speed, you lose a good quarter of your lift,” he said.
He expected his next jump to be better, only there never was a next jump. He didn’t make the final.
“Alan just wasn’t on today,” U.S. coach Kari Yliantilla said. “Every athlete has a bad day.”
That was before Alborn dropped his bombshell indicating this athlete wouldn’t have very many more days. Alborn will compete in the team jumping event Monday and expects to enter a few more international competitions this winter, but that’s it, he said.
He insisted this is no quickie decision sparked by frustration. His parents, Mary and David Alborn, wanted him to quit after the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, he said.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” he said. The Salt Lake Games were “pretty much the whole reason I kept ski jumping since Nagano.”
Yliantilla said he is sure Alborn wouldn’t have made any retirement statements Wednesday if he had jumped well. More than an hour later, Alborn waffled slightly, saying he might re-evaluate after the season.
Alborn left his Alaska home at 15 to ski and hasn’t been in a formal classroom for five years. Before he can even choose a college, he believes he will need some tutoring.
Another annoyance for him is the pressure jumpers face to stay light. Alborn is 5 feet 11 inches and weighs 128 pounds.
Ski jumpers have come under scrutiny lately for eating habits that resemble anorexic diets, such as meals of diet soda and rice.
Alborn said he would like to be free to eat his mother’s home cooking of favorite dishes like moose stroganoff.
He laughed when it was suggested he might be found in an all-you-can-eat buffet line come spring.
That, he said, is the kind of thing ex-ski jumpers do.
“There are a lot of guys who get kind of out of control,” Alborn said.
Almost everything Alborn said indicated that he wants to get his life back in control.