Jaak Mae

Jaak Mae ( born February 25, 1972 in Tapa, Estonian SSR, Soviet Union ) is a former Estonian cross-country skier. The medal winners at the Olympics and World Championships and 21 times national champion is one next to Andrus Veerpalu and Kristina Šmigun - Vähi the most successful Estonian cross-country skiers.

Private life

Jaak Mae is married and lives with his wife Jana and their three children in Tapa. In addition to Estonian and Norwegian of trained physical education teacher also speaks Finnish, English and Russian. After winning the Olympic bronze medal in 2002 Mae was awarded the Order of the Estonian Red Cross third category.

Sporting career

Jaak Mae denied at the age of eight years, his first cross-country race, and two years later began to train in his school association. 1990/1991 he attended a Skigymnasium for half a year in Norway. His first international race denied Mae in the 1993/94 season in the context of cross-country skiing World Cup in Kawgolowo. There, he won the 30 km classic, the 57th place. This season Mae also took part in the 1993 Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun, Sweden. His best result was there about 30 km classic of 56th place. After a 38th place in the 30 km classic at the World Cup in Kawgolowo he was nominated for the 1994 Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. There he took over the 10 km classic in 35th place. About 30 km freestyle, he was 59th in the pursuit competition with 40 of the Estonian season he was one on the eleventh. In 1996 he won about 50 km freestyle his first Estonian Champion title. In the 1996/97 season Mae won the competition in Davos about 10 km classic and 23 his first World Cup points. In the Nordic World Ski Championships 1997 in Trondheim, Norway, his best result of the 31 space over 50 km was classic. At the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan the classical specialists achieved a moderate success, as the 10-kilometer classic occupied the sixth place. Also about 30 km classic he could convince eleventh. Even a year later, was able to confirm these results of Este. At the Nordic World Ski Championships 1999, he was classically Seventh through the 10 kilometers. In the subsequent pursuit competition he could improve this result yet, finishing in fifth place.

In the 2000/2001 season Mae missed at his home World Cup in Otepaeae fifth - just behind his compatriot Andrus Veerpalu - just short of the podium. A week later, he finished at the Nordic World Ski Championships 2001 in Lahti, Finland about 15 km classic in tenth place. His greatest season was Mae 2001/ 02. After several results in the top ten he succeeded at the World Cup Nove Mesto accommodate two 10-kilometer freestyle behind Fabio Maj his first podium finish. He showed his good form at the Olympic Games in 2002 in the U.S. Salt Lake City, where he won classic behind compatriot Andrus Veerpalu and the Norwegians Frode Estil the bronze medal over 15 kilometers. With the Estonian season, which had long located on the third place, he finished ninth. At the end of the season he finished sixth in the World Cup. In the Nordic World Ski Championships 2003 in the Italian Val di Fiemme to Mae silver medal in the 15 km classic secured behind the German Axel Teichmann. In the double persecution, he was tenth. Two years later at the Nordic World Ski Championships 2005 in Oberstdorf Mae was not convincing as the entire Estonian team. His best result was the 29th place in the Pursuit competition. But already in the following year, he once again showed his skills on the classic distances and finished at the 2006 Olympic Games in Pragelato Italian about 15 km classic fifth place. In the season 2006/07, of physical education teachers participated in the Tour de Ski. He finished in 35th place in the final standings. But already at the home World Cup in Otepaeae he showed with fifth ascending form. In the Nordic World Ski Championships in Sapporo 2007 he took over the 50 km classic eighth. To kick off the World Championships, he was, however, were occupied by the World Ski Federation FIS with a five-day lock-protected due to excessive hemoglobin. At the end of the season he finished in eleventh place in the World Cup distance. In November 2007, he was once again blocked due to high hemoglobin levels for five days by the FIS. Also in the 2008/ 09 season Mae took part in the Tour de Ski. He could at all stages that were played in the classic technique, recorded top ten results and finished at the end of the eleventh. When victory of his compatriot Andrus Veerpalu at the Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec about 15 km classic he finished fifth. In the Olympic season 2009/10 he attended only a few World Cup races where he usually did not reach the World Cup points. In Otepaeae he took third place in the absence of the world's elite. This was his most recent podium finish in a World Cup. The 2010 Olympics in Vancouver were disappointing for Mae. Over 50 kilometers of classic he could only fight for the 30th place. In the 2010/11 season Mae participated in the meanwhile the seventeenth year of World Cup competitions, represented the Estonian colors at the Tour de Ski and ran there twice in the top 30 In the Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 in Oslo, he finished with 14 kilometers of the 14 classic. Place. His last international competition contested Mae at the World Cup in Lahti, where he finished in 40 place in the pursuit competition.

After his retirement from competitive sports Mae is the Estonian Ski Association operates and organizes inter alia, the World Cup competitions in Otepaeae.

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