. world ski news : Gold for Austria never in doubt - 22 February 2010 - 23:38
OLYMPICS, SKI JUMPING. Victory for the favorites! The last skijumping competition of the Olympic Games 2010 finally brought the long-awaited Gold medal for the top favorites from Austria. And this victory was never in doubt. First jumper Wolfgang Loitzl brought the team in front and Andreas Kofler, Thomas Morgenstern and Gregor Schlierenzauer extended the lead. Gold for Austria.
A special moment for Schlierenzauer and also for Morgenstern, for whom it was already the third Olympic Gold medal. He is now fourth in the ranking of the most successful skijumpers at the Olympics, and that at age 23. For Schlierenzauer this was the first Gold medal at this first Games and he is the only jumper who will return home with three medals. Also Loitzl can finally call himself an Olympic champion, at age 30. He's also World Champion and 4-Hills-Tournament winner - a good career.
"We were relaxed before the competition because we knew we are the best team. It was a competition to enjoy", told Loitzl. And Kofler agreed. "We felt good, because we have a great team and jump on a high level. That makes it easier for everyone." A well deserved victory for the favorites. Austria won with 1 107.9 points and was more than 70 points ahead of the second.
Exciting fight for the medals behind Austria
That's why only the fight for Silver and Bronze was exciting. Like expected it was decided between Germany, Norway and Finland. After Schmitt had a bad jump in the third group, the German lead was almost gone. Michael Uhrmann had a plus of seven points against Anders Jacobsen and ten points against Harri Olli before the final jumps,
But Olli was not able to show a great jump that would earn Finland a medal. The team of head coach Janne Vaeaetaeinen could not compensate the loss of the injured Janne Ahonen. So Matti Hautamaeki, Janne Happonen, Kalle Keituri and Olli finished only fourth.
Jacobsen vs. Uhrmann: Duel in the final
But then Jacobsen jumped on 140.5 m and Uhrmann was under pressure. But he jumped 140 m and secured the second place for Germany with 1 035,8 points. Together with Uhrmann, Michael Neumayer was the best German, Andreas Wank had great jumps and showed that his nomination was the right decision, Only Schmitt could not meet the expectations. But at the end that didn't matter. "I'm proud of this team", said head coach Werner Schuster.
Bronze went to the Norwegians Jacobsen, Anders Bardal, Tom Hilde and Johan Remen Evensen with 1 030.3 points. The team of Mika Kojonkoski also won Bronze four years ago, but with four different jumpers. So the Norwegians were enthusiastic about their first medal in Vancouver. It was the third bronze medal in history. "What more can you ask for?", Tom Hilde said after he won a medal at his first Olympic Games.
No medal for Japan - Fifth place for Kasai & Co
The Japanese team finished fifth and just like Poland (6th), the Czech Republic (7th) and Slovenia (8th), they could never fight for a medal. Especially Slovenia, with the strong Robert Kranjec and Peter Prevc, wanted more than the eighth place.
A nordic combined athlete did also take part in this Olympic team event. It was Taylor Fletcher who helped out the US team so they could take part in the competition. Fletcher landed already after 88.5 m and the Americans could not make the final. The same fate was shared by the Canadians, who finished 12th. Also Russia and France did not qualify for the second round. A disappointment for the French team of head coach Pekka Niemelä, whose goal was it to reach the Top 8.
Some well-known teams did not start
The team from the Ukraine could not take part after one their best, Vitaliy Shumbarets got injured in a fall in training. Shumbarets was unconscious and was taken to a hospital in Vancouver. Also the Swiss team around double Olympic champion Simon Ammann could not participate because with Ammann and Andreas Kuettel they only have two competitve jumpers. South Korea and Kazakhstan could also not be found on the start list.
Embarassing: The data service was obviously not adjusted to a team competiton. In the first two groups wrong distances were displayed and the rank of the team was not shown. In the middle of the third group the problem was solved.
FISskijumping.com
22.02.2010 21:24