. world ski news : Simon Ammann back in business, won 2nd round of 4-Hills after one jump only - 01 January 2011 - 17:48
Bulgarian Zografski continues his success, placed 19th in Garmisch
SKI JUMPING WORLD CUP. In a windy New Year's event, Simon Ammann fought back impressively in the 4-Hills-Tournament overall ranking. The Swiss won a nerve wrecking competition on the Olympic hill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen after only one round.
Ammann triumphed under difficult conditions with a jump on 131 m and 142.1 points. "That was the situation that I needed. I know that you must have your wits about you. And I proved today that I can do that", Ammann said smiling.
Karelin makes Russians happy
The second place sensationally went to Russian Pavel Karelin who defied the conditions and jumped on 132.5 m worth 138.3 points. For Karelin this was the best result of his career. The third place went to Adam Malysz who made a good jump on 132 m (138 points) in spite of the bad wind conditions.
Thomas Morgenstern landed already after 124 m (125.6 points) and finished only 14th. So the dream of the "Grand Slam" is history, but the Austrian is still leading in the overall ranking. "Well, what am I thinking? This was a difficult competition and it lasted extremely long. It was difficult, that happens and now we're off to Innsbruck. To worry about that now is a waste of energy. I'm glad I didn't get injured, it was dangerous", Morgenstern said after the emotional end of the competition.
Kofler almost fell
And it started really good: The athletes jumped under great conditions, but after half of the first round thermal wind started. In spite of the wind compensation rule the round got difficult and took long. Wind gusts from the side almost lead to a terrible fall of Andreas Kofler.
Ahonen and Koivuranta among the best
"Of course I understand that some are frustrated right now, but it is an outdoor sport and we have a result now and can hold a victory ceremony" FIS race director Walter Hofer commented the result.
For Kofler the dreams of another 4-Hills-Tournament win are now over after the competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, others achieved top results. Anders Jacobsen finished fourth, followed by Finnish veteran Janne Ahonen and Anssi Koivuranta. A good result for the Finnish team, on the other hand Matti Hautamaeki was only 31st. "I don't know what happened", said the 29-year-old.
Ville Larinto fell after an outstanding jump on 140.5 m and was 32nd. It was the longest jump of the day but the 20-year-old could not stand the jump. A first medical check showed that he didn't suffer any fractures or ruptures. But if there would have been a second round he would not have been able to jump.
Germans with great team result
For the German team January 1st was a good day: Martin Schmitt achieved his best result of the season as seventh. Stephan Hocke was 13th and Michael Uhrmann 15th, although he had to jump under difficult conditions. Pascal Bodmer (16th) and Michael Neumayer (18th) also landed in the Top 20.
The good result for the Polish team completed Kamil Stoch as eighth. Bjoern Einar Romoeren showed that his form is improving as ninth. Martin Koch was tenth and best Austrian. This shows that the wind had its influence on the result.
4-Hills: Morgenstern or Ammann
Morgernstern leads in the overall ranking with 415.2 points ahead of Ammann (401.7 points) and Hautamaeki (388.7 points). Malysz is fourth, Koch fifth.
It still looks really good for Morgenstern in the overall World Cup. With 723 points he has a lead of almost 200 points ahead of Kofler (525). Ammann is third (461).
FISskijumping.com
01.01.2011 16:22