Olympic ski jumper recalls his successes

February 11, 2014 · 0 Comments

By Jeff Doner
As one of the daredevil Olympic winter sports, ski jumping is not for the faint of heart. Barreling down a hill at 60 to 70 miles per hour until meeting a jump that fires you over 100 metres is not for everyone.
But local Horst Bulau excelled at it and was one of the world’s best for a large stretch of time.
Originally from Ottawa, Bulau carved out a 13-year career on the national and international circuits.
He participated in four Olympics (1980 in Lake Placid, 1984 in Sarajevo, 1988 in Calgary and 1992 in Albertville) and racked up an astonishing 25 top three finish’s in his career.
“Competing in four Olympics was a big (accomplishment), but 1980 in Lake Placid was my first and as a 17-year-old that was interesting, but Calgary was my third Olympics and of course being able to compete at an Olympics in your home country is a once in a lifetime thing, so that was obviously very special,” he recalled. “I had my best Olympic result at the Calgary Games … unfortunately an Olympic medal wasn’t there.
“I was seventh in Calgary on the big hill and the difference between seventh and being on the podium was very minimal, but that’s the way it is in sport,” he explained. “Things come down to split seconds, but it was very special to be able to compete in an Olympics in my home country.”
Even though that illustrious Olympic medal eluded Bulau, his success on the World Cup circuit was what really makes his career stand out.
In 1979 (his first year competing) Bulau won the junior championship title, which made him the first ever Canadian and non-Nordic competitor to win the title.
His win as a junior on the world stage was just a precursor for what was to come.
“The one that always stands out I guess is my first World Cup win, which was on Jan. 1, 1981 on New Year’s Day. I won on the World Cup circuit seven times in 1983 and I finished second overall in the world that year,” he said when asked about his greatest achievements. “1983 was a big year.”
It’s not really a sport you just decide to do one day as Bulau recalled just spending his days skiing in Ottawa and just testing himself over some little jumps as a youngster.
“They had small introductory ski jumps there and for fun during lunch I would go off those with my alpine skis and from there one thing leads to another and people look at you and say, ‘hey, try this and get the proper equipment’ and the rest is kind of history and things evolve from there,” he said.
That’s what he did until he became a household name in Canada and even in some big ski jumping communities in Europe.
“It was kind of a neat feeling where people see you and recognize you, even in some of the small towns in Europe, but depending where you are and if you’re in small towns where jumping is a big deal, people do recognize you,” he said.
“It was great. As far as recognition across the country, in my hometown of Ottawa especially, you’re in the paper and on the news and get recognized at events in such.”
His accomplishments also garnered him some attention from various organizations.
In 1993 he was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame in 1994 and then the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.
“Any time you get invitations to be an inductee, it’s always something you can be proud of for what you’ve done and your accomplishments and those are always things that you remember and can share with your family and friends,” he said.
Since retiring from the sport in 1992, Bulau now spends his time with his family and said he hasn’t really been involved in ski jumping. But he did say he hopes the sport will somehow regain some support in the future.
“A lot of sports can be very terrifying as a perception, but when you start small and move up the scale to the larger size jumps you realize that with the progression it’s not as difficult as it looks. It’s very fun and it’s very exhilarating and people look at it and go, ‘these guys are crazy,’” he said.
“I was very fortunate to be in the sport that I was and to see a lot of the world, everything was a thrill and it was a lot of fun to go and compete and learn about all the cultures and seeing the world change.”