Vinko Bogataj

Vinko Bogataj ( born March 4, 1948 in Brezovica pri Kropi ) is a former ski jumper from Slovenia, who raced in the 1960s and 1970s for the Yugoslav ski jumping team. But he did not became famous with his successes, but by a spectacular looking crash, which was then shown for 30 years in the opening trailer of the U.S. ABC's Wide World of Sports.

Career

Bogataj approached for the Yugoslav team at the Ski World Championships in Oberstdorf on 21 March 1970. While at the beginning of the race there was light snowfall, this had become much stronger until Bogataj had to complete his third jump. Approximately half starting distance he perceived that the start was too fast to land in bad weather conditions a safe jump can. He tried to lower his center of gravity to thereby slow down the start and stop quite possibly can. But He completely lost his balance, shot control without hitting the takeoff of his movements and wildly and flew by a retaining fence easily mounted just next to the spectators. Surprisingly, and luckily for him he survived the fall unharmed except for a slight concussion.

He stepped back to 1971 competitions, but did not reach its good results of earlier. Shortly after, he withdrew entirely from active competitive sports, and has since lived in Slovenia Lesce. In addition to occasional appearances at Competitions old boys, he concentrated on his work as a ski instructor and worked as a forklift operator in a factory to supplement his income. His most prominent student was Franci Petek, whom he led to the ski jumping World Cup in 1991.

Famous in the U.S., he was but because by chance a team of ABC's Wide World of Sports was at the place and the fall recorded. The opening trailer of the program consists of an always consistent introductory text, the moderator Jim McKay speaks and is put through a variety of scenes cut together from the world of sport. While these excerpts changed, remained Bogatajs off down to few exceptions, still in the trailer, always with the words ... and the agony of defeat combined.

The show is at Sport fans in the U.S. popular enough to make generally known the trailer, especially ... and the agony of defeat became a buzzword. The attention connected with the friendly pity for Bogataj, week after week fell from the hill, turned the ski jumper unknown to a known icon of the accident. Bogataj, private living in Slovenia, but suspected it for many years nothing. When the ABC in 1991 invited him to the anniversary broadcast of Wide World of Sports, he was already surprised enough downright shocking to him was that other present sporting greats such as Muhammad Ali asked him for autographs.

Trivia

In the pilot episode of the television series Scrubs - he played a sleeping patient, wherein one of the main people mistakenly diagnoses a cardiac arrest and then treated him with a defibrillator. Meanwhile, the father of two daughters is also active as a painter.