Kazuyoshi Funaki

Kazuyoshi Funaki is a Japanese former ski jumper born on 27 April 1975 in Yoichi, Hokkaido, who ranked among the most successful ski jumpers of the 1990s and is known for a variant of the V-style in which the body lies flatter between the skis. He made his World Cup debut in Sapporo in December 1992, won his first World Cup event in Planica in December 1994 and finished with 15 World Cup victories, the last in Sapporo in 2005. His best season was 1997 to 98, when he finished second in the World Cup rankings and won the Four Hills Tournament. At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano he won individual large hill gold, team large hill gold and individual normal hill silver, and he also won the 1998 Ski Flying World Championships in Oberstdorf. He carried the Olympic flag at the following Games in Salt Lake City.