Finland’s Samppa Lajunen won his first Nordic Combined World Cup race in 1997, when he was just 17 years old. But subsequently he developed a curious habit of finishing second.

Salt Lake City 2002-Nordic combined-Sprint 7.5km M-LAJUNEN Samppa (FIN) 1st, ACKERMANN Ronny (GER) 2nd

Samppa Lajunen indelibly etched his name in the Olympic record books with a unique treble at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.

Medal events: 3 Athletes: 55 Dates: 12–20 February

22 Feb 2002: Felix Gottwald of Austria, silver, Samppa Lajunen of Finland, gold, and Ronny Ackermann of Germany, bronze, celebrate their medal finish in the 7.5km sprint nordic combined event during the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games at Soldier's Hollow in Heber City, Utah. DIGITAL IMAGE. Mandatory Credit: Agence Zoom/Getty Images

HEBER CITY, UNITED STATES - FEBRUARY 22: OLYMPISCHE WINTERSPIELE SALT LAKE CITY 2002, Heber City; NORDISCHE KOMBINATION/EINZEL/SPRINT/SKILANGLAUF/7,5km; Samppa LAJUNEN/FIN - GOLD - (Photo by Martin Rose/Bongarts/Getty Images)