Ontario Indian world class jumper

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Collins back on ski team

Former Olympic ski jumping star Steve Collins has returned to the slopes and is back on the Canadian National Ski Jumping Team.

The Fort Williams band member left the team last season for personal reasons but has continued to train on his own with private funding.

Collins, 24, impressed national coach Andreas Sachlie at the World Cup held in December at Thunder Bay, Ont., the hometown of the record breaking champ. Following jumps that placed Collins at 36th in the 70-metre and 43rd in the 90-metre at the end of the World Cup, Sachlie felt the performances earned Collins a spot on the national team.

"His financial worries are now over. He will be funded as a member of the national team," explained Sachlie. "That decision was made not only on his promising performance but also because he's shown a real willingness to learn and work hard. I'm really pleased. He jumped better than I was expecting. It's a pleasure to have him back."

Collins joined the team for the second leg of the World Cup at Lake Placid and has a chance to compete at the Winter Olympics in Calgary if he continues to meet the standards of the Canadian Olympic Association.

When Collins competed at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics, he turned in his best performances as a jumper, finishing 11th in the 90-metre and 28th in the 70-metre. He also pulled off a stunning double victory in 1980, winning both the World Cup and World Junior Championships at 17 years of age.

Collins, who started to ski jump at age ten, broke records in Canada and Finland and still holds the honor of recording the longest jump ever made by a Canadian. He jumped 172 metres ? a distance almost the size of two football fields.