Vinko Bogataj

Bogataj became a ski instructor, coaching the 1991 World Champion Slovenian ski jumper Franci Petek. He supplements his income by painting and has also worked as a forklift operator at a factory, Veriga Lesce. His paintings have won awards and been exhibited in both Europe and the U.S. He also enjoys wood carving.

In the 1990s, while on his way to an interview with Wide World of Sports about the incident, he got into a small automobile collision. His first line to the reporter was "every time I'm on ABC, I crash."

The melodrama of the narration—which became a catchphrase in the US—transformed the uncredited ski jumper into an American icon of bad luck and misfortune. Meanwhile, having retired to his quiet, private life in Slovenia, Bogataj was unaware of his celebrity, and so was surprised to be asked to attend the 20th anniversary celebration for Wide World of Sports in 1981. He received the loudest ovation of any athlete introduced at the gala, and attendees such as Muhammad Ali asked him for his autograph.

Bogataj returned to ski jumping in 1971 but never duplicated the success he had before the crash and retired from the sport competitively, save for occasional senior competitions thereafter. During his career, his best career finish was 57th in the individual normal hill competition in Bischofshofen in 1969 during that year's Four Hills Tournament.

Bogataj competed as a Yugoslav entrant at the ski flying event in Oberstdorf, West Germany on 7 March 1970. A light snow had begun falling at the start of the competition, and by the time Bogataj was ready for his third jump on the Heini Klopfer hill, the snow had become quite heavy. Midway down the inrun for his jump, Bogataj realised that the conditions had made the ramp too fast. He attempted to lower his center of gravity and slow his jump, but instead lost his balance completely and hurtled out of control off the end of the inrun, tumbling and flipping wildly, and crashing through a light retaining fence near a crowd of spectators before coming to a halt. Bogataj suffered a mild concussion and a broken ankle.

Vinko Bogataj (Slovenian: /ˈʋiːŋko bɔɡaˈtaj/; born on March 4, 1948) is a Slovenian painter and former ski jumper. Footage of him crashing featured on ABC's Wide World of Sports represented the Agony of Defeat.