. world ski news : Norwegians end Austrian streak - 10 December 2011 - 19:43
SKI JUMPING WORLD CUP. It's done! The sixth competition this season was the first without an Austrian victory. The Norwegians won the team competition in Harrachov and celebrated their first victory in a team event since March 2010 in Lahti.
But still, an Austrian has something to do with this success because with Alex Stoeckl the Norwegians have a head coach from Austria, who helped especially Anders Bardal to become a absolutely top jumper. The 29-year-old secured the win, Bardal is in a great shape and after his jumps on Saturday he is also favorite for the individual event on Sunday. Bjoern Einar Romoeren also showed some very good jumps under snowfall and some tailwind.
Tom Hilde and Vegard Haukoe Sklett also did well and so the victory went to Norway with 993.7 points. in the first team competition in Kuusamo they were only eighth. "It is extremely nice to celebrate this victory. The Austrians were so good over the past years but we did well today and are very happy", said Hilde.
Slovenes surprisingly strong - first podium this season
The second place went to Austria, but they will be able to handle this defeat after all the success. David Zauner could not repeat the good performance he showed in Friday's individual competition. Thomas Morgenstern was strong and the best of the team. At the end, Zauner Morgenstern, Andreas Kofler and Gregor Schlierenzauer (956.0 points) were almost 40 behind the winners. "I'm really happy about the second place today. My jumps were okay and I hope I can do even better tomorrow. As a team we are not very happy, but also not really disappointed either. We have to congratulate the Norwegian team", said Zauner.
The Slovenes surprisingly landed on the podium. Robert Kranjec captured the third place in the final round when he defeated Germany's Severin Freund. This was the first podium result this season for the team of head coach Goran Janus. Best Slovenian jumper today was Jernej Damjan. "We are getting stronger and stronger and we have a good team. It was close against the Germans but everything worked just fine. I think we'll also be strong tomorrow", said Damjan.
Freitag second in indiviudal ranking
The Germans finished fourth and have hopes for the next individual competition. Because in an individual ranking Richard Freitag would have been second behind Bardal. Maximilian Mechler was the jinx of the team, that participated without Martin Schmitt. Mechler had bad conditions and finished last of the 32nd jumpers in the final round.
The Polish team, that was only seventh at the opening in Kuusamo, had to fight to reach the final round in Harrachov. But there the jumpers of Lukasz Kruczek showed what they are capable of and moved up to fifth.
Hlava by far best Czech
The Czech team finished sixth, after they were on the fourth place after the first round. With Roman Koudelka, who left the hospital again and will probably be able to compete next weekend in Engelberg, more would have been possible. Lukas Halva was by far their best athlete in this competition.
The Japanese and the Russians finished seventh and eighth after they were on the podium in this season's first team competition.
Finns disappoint again
The Swiss missed to qualify for the second round by only five points. Simon Ammann was their best, but he was also not on top in his group.
It was another disappointing day for Finland, who could also not reach the final in front of their home crowd in Kuusamo. This time a great Janne Happonen was not enough to compensate the bad jumps of Matti Hautamaeki, Olli Muotka and Anssi Koivuranta. So it's getting clearer that they are not able to show consistent top performances this winter. Koivuranta, Hautamaeki and Happonen can be among the best, if everything works well. But as a team they are not good enough in the first part of the season. But the Norwegians proved how fast you can come back again. That's what the Finns have to focus on.
FISskijumping.com
10.12.2011 18:11