In honour of the recent Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame 2014 Induction Celebrations presented by Canadian Tire on October 22, OLM will be featuring inductees—recent and historic—in a weekly Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame Profile piece.
Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame aims to share the stories and achievements of Honoured Members to inspire Canadians in all aspects of life.
Horst Bulau: Athlete, Ski Jumping
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s Horst Bulau flying through the air!
At the young age of 16, Bulau was on skis, jumping great distances—something most of us are too scared to do. When Horst Bulau was asked what it feels like to fly through the air on skis, he said, “You almost feel like a bird…It’s a good feeling.”
The Ottawa native showed no signs of slowing down. He was extremely dedicated to ski jumping throughout his 14-year career. He quickly rose to the top as Canada’s greatest ski jumper. However, the journey was not easy. Bulau worked endlessly on improvement, a true testament to his athleticism. This perseverance paid off in many ways, including a World Junior Men’s Ski Jumping Championship, representing Canada in four different Olympic games and many World Cup wins. At the 1988 Olympic Winter Games, Horst placed seventh, the best finish ever by a Canadian ski jumper in the 120 m event.
It was Bulau’s love of the sport, love of his country and the drive to be the best he could be that raised the profile of ski jumping in Canada. Today, Bulau is in Canada volunteering and inspiring others with his passion for sport. He hopes to pass on his enthusiasm, sportsmanship and ability to be a great athlete and a great Canadian!
