World Champion Kranjec flies to victory
Slovenia's Robert Kranjec won the second ski flying event in Vikersund. Kranjec, who won the ski flying World Championship title here last year, jumped on 231.5 m and 230 m (416.5 points) and won ahead of Germany's Michael Neumayer, who surprised as second, and yesterday's winner Gregor Schlierenzauer of Austria. For Kranjec it was the fifth win the World Cup, the first this winter.
Kranjec laid the foundation for his win already in the first round. He had a lead of ten points ahead of Schlierenzauer before the final jump and at the end he came in 16.5 points ahead of Schlierenzauer and 11 points ahead of Michael Neumayer. "Vikersund is a very special place for me. Here I won the World Championship title last year and this weekend was great as well with the win and a third place. I'm totally satisfied and now I'm looking forward to the next ski flying weekend in Harrachov", said the winner.
34-year-old German Michael Neumayer was the surprise of the day. After the first round he was third and Neumayer moved up to second with his very good final jump. "It went great for me here. I could simply enjoy ski flying today. I was third twice in the World Cup and now second, that's awesome. I'm still dreaming of the World Cup win and today I was the best in the second round. This means that I can keep up with the best and I deserved the second place today", said Neumayer. The athlete of Bavaria jumped on 223 m and 231 m that earned him 405.5 points.
Video-Interview with Michael Neumayer »
The winner of yesterday's competition, Gregor Schlierenzauer, achieved another top result. "I'm happy about the third place, even if I could win for the 47th time. It's the world's largest hill and the competition is very strong. My jumps were not as good as yesterday, I made mistakes and the timing at the table was not perfect", told Schlierenzauer.
Swiss with upward trend
Simon Ammann came in fourth today. The Swiss reached a total of 393.6 points with his jumps on 216 m and 222.5 m. So Ammann was able to continue his upward trend. Ammann's teammate Gregor Deschwanden landed beyond the 200 m mark for the first time in the qualification and could also continue the positive trend he is showing this season.
With their shared fifth place, Peter Prevc and Jurij Tepes (both 390.4 points), completed the outstanding weekend for Slovenia. Besides the two podium results of Robert Kranjec in Vikersund, the Slovenes also won both team competitions at the Junior World Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic, this weekend.
Video-Interview with FIS race director Walter Hofer
Kamil Stoch was seventh and again the best of the Polish team of head coach Lukasz Kruczek. 207 m and 222 m earned him 386.6 points and Stoch finished three places and 9.5 points ahead of his teammate Piotr Zyla, who was in the Top 10 again as tenth (377.1 points).
Norwegians missed podium in front of home crowd
Like already on the day before, the Norwegians could not achieve a podium result in front of their home crowd. Andreas Stjernen was their best as eighth (204.5 m and 228.5 m; 380.4 points). "I think we as a team were overmotivated here in Vikersund. That's the only explanation I have for these results", head coach Alex Stoeckl said after the competition. Rune Velta (13th), Anders Bardal (17th), Anders Fannemel (19th), Anders Jacobsen (21st) and Tom Hilde (22nd) could not meet the high expectations.
Severin Freund was the second best German as ninth. He reached a total of 378.7 points with 216 m and 211.5 m. Also Maximilian Mechler (15th) showed a strong performance. Richard Freitag (20th) and Andreas Wank (25th) also scored World Cup points, but didn't achieve a top result.
Martin Schmitt and Marinus Kraus failed to make the cut for the final round again as 35th and 36th, just like yesterday. The two Americans Peter Frenette and Anders Johnson closely missed the final round as 31st and 34th.