Every Olympics is just a crazy collection of impossible and unthinkable stories. Here’s another: Germany’s Philipp Raimund, a ski jumper who had never previously won any World Cup competition and who suffers from an occasionally paralyzing fear of heights, is now a gold medalist.
That last sentence is truly absurd.
Whatever obstacles you might be facing in your own life, please remember this gentleman just went out on the biggest stage and became the very best in the world at a thing that often terrifies him.
“It feels absolutely amazing. It is the biggest achievement of my life, the best day of my life so far,” Raimund said.
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The win is extra sweet for Raimund, who pulled out of a World Cup event in March of 2025, citing a fear of heights that was affecting his physical performance.
“As some of you may know, I am scared of heights,” Raimund wrote on Instagram in German at the time. “I usually have it under control, and it usually isn’t a problem while ski jumping, but from time to time, I have the issue (mainly while ski flying) that my body is reacting without me controlling it.”
Acrophobia? Highly relatable.
Rocketing down a mountain and launching yourself off a ramp while managing your acrophobia? Not relatable in any way.
You can (and should) watch Raimund’s medal-winning performance right here. He took up ski jumping as a child because his older brother was doing it, as one does. He’s now a legend among legends, a freak among athletic freaks.
As Raimund himself declared immediately after his win: “Un-(expletive)-believable.”
It’s the sort of underdog story that wouldn’t sell as fiction, but the Olympics seems to routinely deliver.