Fifty years ago today on March 21st 1970 at the Ski Flying Championship in Oberstdorf, (West)Germany Vinko  Bogataj, a rather unheralded ski-jumper representing Yugoslavia, began his third jump of the competition. Conditions had deteriorated and a steadily increasing snowfall had made the ramp too fast. Realizing this midway down the ramp, the Slovene attempted to stop the jump by lowering his center of gravity, unfortunately causing him to lose his balance at the end of the inrun.  Bogataj, now completely out of control, crashed off the ramp, barely missing a race official, flailing wildly as he tumbled into a  retaining fence near the spectators.

  A crew from television network ABC were on hand filming the competition. The crash was immortalized when the network used the footage for the opening introduction of its long running sports anthology show “The Wide World Of Sports”. While legendary sports broadcaster Jim  McKay announced “The Thrill of Victory… and the Agony of Defeat” images representing “The Thrill of Victory” changed constantly, but the sight of Vinko Bogatoj’s crash remained the representation of “The Agony of Defeat” throughout the show’s long run. The crash that sent  him plummeting to the ground would launch  him into unbeknownst stardom

 

 Vinko Bogataj suffered a concussion and a broken ankle from  the crash. After taking time off to recover, he returned to Ski-Jumping in 1971, but was never the same. He soon quietly retired; completely unaware of his iconic status in the United States. In 1981 Bogataj attended an anniversary gathering  of “The Wide World of Sports” and was overwhelmed at the huge ovation he received at the gala. He would later become a forklift operator and then a Ski-Jumping instructor for members of  Team Slovenia. He is also an accomplished artist.

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