Olympic Champion Gets 2 Years For Stabbing

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Former Olympic Icon Receives Two-Year Prison Term For Aggravated Assault

The four-time Olympic ski-jumping gold medallist, former world champion, and current performing artist Matti Nykänen was sentenced to two years and two months in prison for aggravated assault on Wednesday.
The sentence was unconditional, since Nykänen was on probation for an earlier assault offence. After various reductions, he will apparently have to stay in the Kylmäkoski Prison for at least a year.
Moreover, the court ordered Nykänen to pay EUR 1,700 in damages to the victim.
The primary name for the charges Nykänen had to answer in court was attempted manslaughter. The court believed, however, that Nykänen did not attempt to kill his acquaintance.

The charges related to an incident on August 24th in which a 59-year-old man received two stab wounds after an altercation at a summer cabin in Nokia. The victim was seriously injured, but his situation was not life-threatening.

The motive of the stabbing remains somewhat unclear, but reportedly both the Nykänen couple and their guest were all extremely drunk at the time of the incident.
The court heard that Nykänen and the victim had been engaged in a form of arm-wrestling, in which the two players lock index fingers and each attempts to pull the other towards him. The loser is the one who loosens his grip as the finger straightens. Nykänen lost two successive bouts and then apparently lost his temper.
Nykänen’s wife Mervi Tapola-Nykänen had not seen what had actually happened nor did she agree to testify against her husband.

In court Nykänen said he was sorry for the stabbing, but claimed that he did not remember anything about it.
Nykänen is a Finnish sporting icon and remains a high-profile figure, in spite of the fact that he has of late more often been on the front pages of the tabloids than in the sports section. The case has gathered widespread attention in the Finnish media. Reporters from Great Britain, Germany, and Switzerland had also come to follow the court proceedings.