Gregor Schlierenzauer wins 4-Hills-Tournament
Excitement until the end! That's how a major sports event should be: The decision in the duel between Gregor Schlierenzauer and Anders Jacobsen was open until the final jump. Jacobsen put a lot of pressure on the Austrian with his second jump on 139 m. But Schlierenzauer did great himself. 137.5 m in the final round were enough for the Austrian to win the competition, the overall title and his 45th World Cup event.
For 22-year-old Schlierenzauer it was the second 4-Hills win in a row, only seven athletes were able to defend their overall titles so far. It's getting hard to find superlatives for Schlierenzauer. You can't reckon with things like that, it just happens. It was a great 4-Hills-Tournament and if you can stand on top at the end it's indescribable. I really enjoy it a lot. The key to success was that I was able to focus on myself and to always show my performance. Especially at the Bergisel I was able to show a great performance and I also had the necessary luck. Thanks also to fans, the atmosphere in Austria was amazing."/p>
At the end of the day his jumps in the rain of Bischofshofen (133 m and 137.5 m) earned him 272.7 points, 2.3 more than Jacobsen (131.5 m and 139 m; 270.4 points). "It feels really good. It was an amazing 4-Hills-Tournament. It was a good show not only for the athletes but also for the audience. A great fight until the end. I'm really satisfied with the second place. The team performance was also perfect. I think the results would have been about the same without the new boot. On big hills it is a small advantage because it's make the boot a bit stiffer. But it's the guy wearing it who does the work and only two guys were using it", said Jacobsen.
In front of 26 500 spectators the third place surprisingly went to Austrian youngster Stefan Kraft. Kraft achieved his first ever podium result with two jumps on 131 m and 261.3 points. "That's awesome. I think it was a very fair competition and that makes me even more proud because I showed two great jumps. It also helped that I know the hill very well because it is pretty unique and different from the other hills."
Fourth today and in the overall ranking was Kamil Stoch of Poland. Consistent jumps on 131 m and 131.5 m earned Stoch a total of 260.2 points and the fourth place. The 4-Hills-Tournament ended with a good result for the Polish team. I really had a good chance to finish third and it was so close, only two points, that's like one meter. My jumps today were not so good today so I'm unhappy now. My shape was getting better and better during the 4-Hills-Tournament and I was jumping better in every competition. So today I couldn't have jumped better than I actually did. But this is sport", said Stoch.
The competition started with a bang. Severin Freund, who was fourth in the overall ranking, lost his duel against Poland's Stefan Hula.
Disappointments for Freund and Ammann
With a jump on 126 m Freund not only lost his duel, but also the chance to compete in the final round and to achieve a top result in the overall ranking of the 4-Hills-Tournament. 33rd place today and the 13th place in the 4-Hills is definitely a disappointment for Freund.
"This happens, it was a shitty day. I made a mistake in my jump, but I can't change it now. Get back and keep going that's the motto now. It was definitely my fault and I can't blame the conditions", said Freund. Best German was veteran Michael Neumayer. He finished eighth in Bischofshofen and sixth in the overall ranking. It was a sensational 4-Hills-Tournament for Neumayer.
Simon Ammann failed to qualify for the final round for the second time at the 61st 4-Hills-Tournament. Jan Matura of the Czech Republic won his duel against the Swiss. Simon Ammann, who wanted to win the overall title, will have to wait another year, until the 62nd 4-Hills-Tournament.
Japanese have to improve
Two weeks before their home competitions in Sapporo the Japanese team is still not in a good shape. Noriaki Kasai was the only one of the team of head coach Tomoharu Yokokawa who could qualify for the final round. He was 23rd with jumps on 123 m and 127 m. Daiki Ito (35th), Taku Takeuchi (36th) and Reruhi Shimizu (37th) lost their K.O. duels. All of them will have to improve their performances in order to achieve good results in front of their home crowd.
Schlierenzauer ahead of the Norwegians
Gregor Schlierenzauer won the overall ranking with 1100.2 points. The second and third place went to Norway: Anders Jacobsen (1087.2 points) and his teammate Tom Hilde (1029.2 points). Kamil Stoch came in fourth with 1027.2 points, ahead of Anders Bardal (1026.8 points) and Michael Neumayer of Germany (996.7 points).
Not only the Norwegians, but also the Germans had three athletes in the Top 10. In the wake of Neumayer also Wellinger (9th) and Martin Schmitt (10th) achieved a good result.