SKI JUMPING WORLD CUP. The dominator of the season was also the best in Oberstdorf. Thomas Morgenstern clearly won the opening event of the 59th 4-Hills-Tournament with 289.6 points ahead of Finland's Matti Hautamaeki with 273.1 points. The third place in front of 18 000 fans went to Manuel Fettner (264.0 points). For the 25-year-old this was the first podium result of his career.

photo © fisskijumping.com

"This is sensational. That's exactly the feeling I want to have and if the result is also that good it's unbelievable. It's nice to start the 4-Hills like that", said the winner. Of course also his teammate was more than satisfied with his third place. "It's unbelievable. It would be great if I could be on the podium more often in the future. I jumped well today and hopefully it'll continue this way."

Thomas Morgenstern, photo © fisskijumping.com

After this result Matti Hautamaeki aims high for the Tournament. "The second place is my best result here in Oberstdorf. In 2001/02 I was second in the 4-Hills behind Sven Hannawald. Back then I was fourth in Oberstdorf. Now, with the better start, I hope I can also improve my overall ranking", said the Finn.

Thomas Morgenstern, photo © fisskijumping.com

The Austrian team demonstrated its strength in the "Allgaeu-Arena" in Oberstdorf. Andreas Kofler, second after the first round, came in fifth. Martin Koch (7th) and Wolfgang Loitzl (9th) also achieved top results: Five Austrians in the Top 10.

Many jumpers with their career best

Simon Ammann, the lone Swiss competitor on Wednesday, landed on a good fourth place and can still have a little hope to win the Tournament for the first time, although he is already 30 points behind. Adam Malysz could not meet the expectations as eleventh, he already lost his chances with a weak jump on only 115 m under difficult conditions in the first round.

It was a great start in the 4-Hills-Tournament for young Bulgarian Vladimir Zografski. The 17-year-old teenager from Samokov was 16th and achieved the best result of his career.

For some of the favorites had problems in the first competition of the traditional Tournament. Many athletes, who achieved great results previously, already lost their chances for the overall title. Ville Larinto, the only winner of the season who is not from Austria, could not reach the final.

photo © fisskijumping.com

Also Pascal Bodmer, last season the best German in the overall ranking as seventh, will not be able to achieve such a good result again. He was also not in the second round. Poland's Kamil Stoch, one of last summer's highflyer, was only 25th.

Bad day for Norge

It was not a good day for the Norwegian team. Johan Remen Evensen missed the cut for the final round, Rune Velta was disqualified. Bjoern Einar Romoeren, who jumped 140 m in the trial round, was only 27th in the competition. Anders Jacobsen, 4-Hills-Tournament winner 2007, landed on place 23 and is not among the favorites any longer.

So the only Norwegian who could show a good performance was Tom Hilde, who made a good jump in the first round in spite of the tailwind. At the end he was the best of his team as tenth. Anders Bardal finished 20th.

Janne Ahonen and Jakub Janda repeated history. 2006 they shared the victory of the 4-Hills-Tournament, this time they shared the fifth place in the "Lucky Loser"-ranking and reached the final. But they were not good enough for more. Ahonen was 31st, Janda 30th.

Germans make fans happy

Eight jumpers represented Germany in the final round, that shows the strength of a team. But they have no athelte who can win at the moment. It's just not enough for the top. Also not for Martin Schmitt, who was jumping so well in the qualification and the trial round. In the competition he showed that he still lacks the consistency for many good jumps. He only reached the final because his opponent Jurij Tepes made a bad jump. But with 127.5 m in the final, the 32-year-old (who finished 18th) showed what he is capable of.

The best Freund ever

Severin Freund and Michael Neumayer were the best Germans. Freund finished sixth, a career best for him. Neumayer was eighth and captured the second Top 10 finish for the team. Richard Freitag was 13th, the best result so far for the 19-year-old.

The competition was a disappointment for the Czech team. Only Jakub Janda reached the second round. The best Slovene was Peter Prevc as 12th, Robert Kranjec was 14th, so it was a good result for the team of head coach Matjaz Zupan.

FISskijumping.com
29.12.2010 18:14

Podium of 4-Hills Tournament in Obertdorf, photo © fisskijumping.com