SKI JUMPING WORLD CUP. Andreas Kofler ended the winning streak of Thomas Morgenstern. Under strong tailwind he showed that he can deal with difficult conditions and won ahead of his teammate with 265.1 points. Morgenstern moved up from seventh to second with 258.8 points, but Kofler's victory was not in danger.

Andreas Kofler, Engelberg ski jumping day 3, photo © fisskijumping.com

"This weekend was sensational, exhausting but very successful. It was a difficult first round but still we jumped on a high level. In the second round I attacked and had fun again. It's nice to be on top in the World Cup and also that Kofi is right behind me. Today he was just a little bit better", told Morgenstern.

And the winner said: "I had a score to settle here but I didn't take too much risk. It was difficult today but it was also fun. When it works out in the end it also doesn't matter if you have tailwind. Now I want to relax and recharge my batteries. I'm really looking forward to the 4-Hills-Tournament. I already won that title so I can be relaxed now."

Ski Jumping Hill in Engelberg, photo © fisskijumping.com

Adam Malysz, who was only 17th after the first round but moved up to the third place with a great 137 m jump in the final. He showed that he is one of the favorites for the 4-Hills-Tournament. "The first jump was difficult. In the second round there were better conditions and the jump was also a lot better", he said about his result. "The favorites for the 4-Hills-Tournament are Kofler and Morgenstern but I have the chance to compete with them. For that I have to continue jumping on a high level. The audience here was great, it's a ski jumping family. It's nice here in Switzerland", Malysz praised the fans.

Karelin and Hocke the sensations of the day

Pavel Karelin is by far the best Russian jumper at the moment. The 20-year-old from Nishny Nowgorod finished on a sensational fourth place - the best result of his career and only five points behind the podium.

Stephan Hocke, who won three Continental Cup competitions this winter, was fifth and achieved a top result on the hill where he celebrated his only victory. "It's great that it went so well in the first round. The jumps were good, but can still be better. I knew that I would achieve a good result", Hocke said. The fifth place was his best result since 2005 when he was also fifth in Pragelato.

Crazy first round

It was a crazy first round, influenced by changing winds. Out of the top athletes, Andreas Kofler and Thomas Morgenstern could handle the conditions the best. Other stars had more problems. Matti Hautamaeki, Adam Malysz, Anders Jacobsen, Wolfgang Loitzl, Ville Larinto, Tom Hilde - none of them was among the best after the first round.

Best results for Hula and Freund

Hautamaeki, Kamil Stoch, Anders Bardal and Loitzl could move up some places in the final, but it was not enough for a podium result. But for others it was already like Christmas in Engelberg: Stefan Hula from Poland was seventh, his best result so far. Severin Freund was ninth, his best result so far.

In the final, that took place under fair conditions, the result after the first round changed. Peter Prevc, Jan Matura, Michael Neumayer and Pascal Bodmer could not keep their good ranks, the stars moved up place by place. So the final result seems normal, although the competition was not.

Some stars not in form for the 4-Hills

But still: Also after the last competition before the 4-Hills-Tournament some experienced athletes are struggeling with their form: Bjoern Einar Romoeren, Noriaki Kasai, Michael Uhrmann and Robert Kranjec for example, could not score points on Sunday. For Simon Ammann the weekend did also not go as well as he had hoped. 6, 9, 12 - are not the results the Swiss "Athlete of the Year" wanted to achieve in front of his home crowd.

Morgenstern and Kofler also dominate the World Cup overall ranking. Morgenstern scored 605 points, Kofler 480 points. So Morgenstern will end the ski jumping year 2010 with the Yellow Leader's Bib.

FISskijumping.com
19.12.2010 16:00