SKI JUMPING WORLD CUP. Thomas Morgenstern did it! The 24-year-old from Carinthia won the 4-Hills-Tournament for the first time in his career. In front of about 30 000 fans in Bischofshofen the second place behind Tom Hilde, who celebrated the biggest success of his career, was enough. For the 23-year-old Hilde this was the third victory in a World Cup competition but his two wins in Predazzo are by far not as prestigous as the one in Bischofshofen. Andreas Kofler finished third in this competition.

Thomas Morgenstern, foto © fisskijumping.com

But Morgenstern outshined everything this evening. In spite of all the pressure he did his thing and clearly captured the overall victory. After Wolfgang Loitzl and Andreas Kofler he is the third Austrian in a row who could win this traditional event.

"Thanks to everyone who made this possible"

"It's not real for me yet. There are so many emotions. I enjoyed it, the audience was awesome", said the winner. "Thanks to everyone who made this possible."

Thomas Morgenstern, foto © fisskijumping.com

Adam Malysz, who won the 4-Hills-Tournament exactly ten years ago, achieved another top result in Bischofshofen - a tenth place. In the overall ranking Malysz finished sixth, behind the two Austrians Manuel Fettner (6th in Bischofshofen) and Martin Koch (5th in Bischofshofen).

Morgenstern, Ammann and Hilde on the podium

Simon Ammann came in second in the overall ranking ahead of today's winner Hilde, who moved up to third from sixth. The podium of the 59th 4-Hills-Tournament: Morgenstern (958.1 points), Ammann (928.4 points) and Hilde (895 points). So the Tournament came to a good end for the Norwegian team although it didn't start that well for them.

Neumayer: Thank God there's Bischofshofen

Best German on Thursday was Michael Neumayer and he was satisfied with his eighth place. "Thank God there's Bischofshofen. I simply like this hill. That was a nice competition today and I'm very satisfied", he told. The Germans showed a good team performance: Pascal Bodmer was tenth, Severin Freund 13th and Michael Uhrmann 16th.

30 000 fans in Bischofshofen, foto © fisskijumping.com

"The jump in the qualification raised hopes. I keep on working to get closer to the best and I'm pretty satisfied with the 4-Hills", said Uhrmann. Also Freund was happy about his good overall performance with the best result of his career. There was no German in the Top 10 of the 4-Hills-Tournament ranking, but five in the Top 20.

Slovene Prevc good 13th

The only 18-year-old Peter Prevc was 13th overall and the best of the Slovenian team. A good result for him. The best of the Czech team was Roman Koudelka as 20th.

Besides the Austrians, who had four athletes in the Top 10, also the Norwegians achieved a strong team result. Johan Remen Evensen finished seventh and Anders Jacobsen ninth.

Karelin missed top result

Surprisingly Pavel Karelin could not make it to the final round. He lost the duel against Hilde and was not one of the five "Lucky Losers". So the Russian could not achieve the best 4-Hills-Tournament result of his career. Denis Kornilov scored one point for Russia as 30th.

Also Vladimir Zografski, who was so strong in both competitions in Germany, could not score World Cup points. For the Czech Republic, Jan Matura, Jakub Janda and Lukas Hlava could not reach the final. Dawid Kubacki and Rafal Sliz also failed to make the cut. Only Kamil Stoch and Adam Malysz scored points for the team of head coach Lukasz Kruczek. Anssi Koivuranta and Olli Muotka were those who could not reach the final round for the Finnish team.

Morgenstern: Huge lead in the World Cup

The injury of Ville Larinto is a problem for Finnish head coach Pekka Niemelae with a view to the team competition at the World Championships in Oslo. They have great individual jumpers, but the team seems to be far away of the medals. Best Finn on Thursday was Janne Ahonen as 20th, Matti Hautamaeki was only 22nd after a weak second jump. But he was still one place better than Gregor Schlierenzauer.

Thomas Morgenstern won 4-Hills-Tournament, foto © fisskijumping.com

4-Hills-Tournament winner Thomas Morgenstern is not that far away of his second victory of the overall World Cup title. He already has 903 points, almost 300 more than Kofler (621 points). Ammann is third with 561 points.

Gar nicht mehr so weit entfernt von einem zweiten Gesamtsieg im Weltcup ist der große Tournee-Triumphator Morgenstern. 903 Zähler hat er scghon und damit fast 300 Punkte Vorsprung auf Kofler (621). Ammann ist Dritter mit 561 Zählern.

FISskijumping.com
06.01.2011 18:19