SKI JUMPING. The chance to win a million is gone, the 4-Hills-Tournament victory is within reach. Gregor Schlierenzauer has a good lead in the overall ranking of the 60th 4-Hills-Tournament, but his teammate Andreas Kofler shattered the dream of winning one million Swiss Francs for the Grand Slam.

Because Kofler won his home competition in front of 22 500 fans at the Bergisel in Innsbruck with a fantastic jump on 134.5 m in the final round. The overall World Cup leader moved up from fifth after the first round. With a total of 252.8 points he won ahead of Schlierenzauer (247.6 points) and celebrated his tenth victory in the World Cup.

"I am very happy that I was able to win here on my home hill at Innsbruck. It is very emotional for me. This victory means a lot to me because many athletes never managed to win at their hometowns and to do this during the four hills tournament ist just perfect. So this is a really special day to me", said Kofler.

And also his teammate was satisfied with his performance. "I did a good job of just focussing on myself and doing my thing. Congratulations to Andi, of course, it is very cool that the victory stayed in Tyrol! Now the chance for the Grand Slam is gone but the money was never that important to me. My goal is to win the Four Hills Tournament and now I am one step closer to reaching that goal. I am looking forward to the final at Bischofshofen."

Again a Japanese on third place

Just like already in Garmisch-Partenkirchen the third place went to Japan. This time it was not Daiki Ito, but his teammate Taku Takeuchi, who was fourth in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. With 246.7 points he was only 0.9 points behind Schlierenzauer. This is the first podium result in the World Cup for the 24-year-old. "It was a very good feeling, to stand on the podium today. A Top 3 rank is always special to me, not only at the Four Hills Tournament but at every World Cup competition. So, of course, I am more than happy with my result!"

With Norwegian Anders Bardal, another one of the top favorites for the Tournament finished fourth. Roman Koudelka proved his great shape at the moment with the fifth place in a competition that took place under changing weather conditions. Lukas Hlava was tenth and completed the great result of the Czech team.

Stoch from first to ninth

Poland's Kamil Stoch was in the lead after the first round and had a lead of 11.4 points to Kofler, but he landed already after 108 m in the final round - Stoch finished ninth.

It was more than difficult for the jury. The wind was changing a lot, from tailwind to no wind and head wind. Some athletes had problems or simply no chance.

So also Severin Freund lost the chance to finish in the Top 3 of the 4-Hills in Innsbruck. He didn't have a good competition and could not reach the 120 m mark in both rounds. At the end he was only 21st. But the competition didn't go that bad for Germany. Maximilian Mechler was seventh, right behind Thomas Morgenstenr. Michael Neumayer came in eighth. Mechler, who already won the qualification, had two good days in Innsbruck and can now travel to Bischofshofen with self-confidence.

Besides Freund also Robert Kranjec can't achieve a top result in the 4-Hills anymore. The Slovene was only 28th after a 105 m jump in the final. The very good ski flyer really had bad luck with the conditions.

Ito no chance with bad conditions

Daiki Ito had a lot of bad luck as well. The Japanese, who was third in the overall ranking after Garmisch-Partenkirchen, jumped with a lot of tailwind in the final and landed already after 91.5 m. The 26-year-old had no chance and finished 27th. But maybe he will be able to fight for the stage victory in Bischofshofen, where he holds the hill record.

Schlierenzauer still with good lead

Noriaki Kasai could not qualify for the final in his 399th World Cup competition. Also Bjoern Einar Romoeren and world record holder Johan Remen Evensen could not score points, the same fate was shared by their teammate Vegard-Haukoe Sklett.

Schlierenzauer still leads in the overall ranking of the 4-Hills-Tournament and can be pretty relaxed before the final competition. He is in a great shape and can capture the title in Bischofshofen. He showed that he can do well there already in 2007 when he won at age 17. But still Kofler has his chance, the victory in Innsbruck will give him additional confidence.

Kofler: Yellow bib fits

With 768 points Kofler is now more than 100 points ahead of Schlierenzauer (656 points) in the overall World Cup ranking. Bardal is third with 509 points.

FISskijumping.com
04.01.2012 16:27