Jari Mantila
Jari Sakari Mantila (* July 14, 1971 in Kotka ) is a retired Finnish Nordic skier.
Sporting career
Mantila started in 1992 for the first time at a World Cup competition. He finished his debut in Lahti 12th place in the next competition in Trondheim he was also placed in ninth place among the top ten. In the 1993/94 season he was able to repeatedly ranked among the top ten and finished third in the overall World Cup the ninth. In the Nordic World Ski Championships 1995 in Thunder Bay, he was able to win the silver medal behind Norwegian Fred Børre Lundberg.
In December 1995 Mantila celebrated his first World Cup victory in Val di Fiemme. During the season, he could fight three more podium finishes and finished third in the overall World Cup in 1995/96 behind Knut Tore Apeland and Kenji Ogiwara third place. This power he could improve a year later. With a World Cup win and several podium finishes, he finished in the Overall World Cup 1996/97 second behind his compatriot Samppa Lajunen. In the Nordic World Ski Championships 1997 in Trondheim, Norway he could fight with the Finnish team the silver medal behind Norway. This result could also repeat the Finnish team at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. In the Overall World Cup 1997/98 Mantila finished fifth.
1999 Mantila was able to place in the World Cup only rarely in the top ten. In the Nordic World Ski Championships 1999, he won the sprint on the 14th place in the individual competition and eleventh place. The Finnish team he could win the world title. His last podium finish in a World Cup race won Mantila 2000 at the Sprint competition in Upper Wiesenthal. There he finished in third place behind Samppa Lajunen and Bjarte Engen Vik. In the Overall World Cup 1999/ 00 could still occupy a tenth.
In summer 2000 he was in third place and second place in Klingenthal at the Grand Prix in Oberhof / Steinbach- Hallenberg. In the overall Grand Prix standings he finished fourth. In the following winter season 2001, he could not repeat the performance in recent years and not be placed in the top ten in World Cup competitions. In the Nordic World Ski Championships 2001 in Ramsau am Dachstein, he won the bronze medal with the Finnish team.
In his last active season 2002 Mantila was able to place in the top twenty in the world cup only rarely, but was nominated for the Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City anyway. Together with Samppa Lajunen, Hannu Manninen and Jaakko Tallus he won the gold medal in the team competition ahead of the German team. In March 2002, Jari Mantila denied in Oslo his last World Cup competition.
After the sports career
After his playing days as an athlete Jari Mantila worked as a service man at the Finnish Ski Jumping World Cup team. In the Nordic World Ski Championships 2005 in Oberstdorf, he was arrested for drunk driving and lost his job at the Finnish Ski Association. The end of 2005 Mantila was committed by Wolfgang Steiert as chief engineer for the Russian ski jumping team.
In April 2004 Mantila founded together with his friend Janne Ahonen the company radius AY who sells snowmobile and motorcycle accessories.