Next win for Schlierenzauer
Not even five hours after he celebrated his 47th win in the World Cup, Gregor Schlierenzauer took victory number 48 - another record. Nothing and nobody can stop the 23-year-old at the hills right now.
One jump on 197.5 m (191.8 points) was enough for the Austrian to also win the second competition of the day in Harrachov (CZE) and write another chapter for the history books. To the joy of the spectators, local hero Jan Matura came in second (194.5 m; 187.2 points), followed by Slovenia's Jurij Tepes, who jumped on 193.5 m (186.1 points).
Like already in today's first competition the conditions were very difficult at the Certak-hill in Harrachov. Changing winds were a constant challenge for athletes and jury and caused various delays and changes of the inrun gate. After the first round the jury then decided to cancel the final round due to the still difficult conditions.
"The conditions were really very difficult today. For us athletes and also for the jury. I had some luck twice today and now I'm more than happy", told the winner after his second triumph today.
For local hero Jan Matura the second place was the best result for him on his home turf. "It's a great feeling to be on the podium here in the Czech Republic. I'm absolutely satisfied today. Of course the wind was a problem, but the jury and Miran Tepes did a great job and so the competitions were good and fair. You just need a bit of luck on days like this", said Matura.
The third place went to Jurij Tepes. The Slovene was satisfied but also critical concerning the first competition today and his outstanding jump on 220 m: "It was a tough day today and all in all I'm really satisfied and happy. The second competition was great and I'm not too angry about the first one anymore now. My second jump in the first competition was not good because I was so angry because I think I jumped longer than 220 m in the first round", told Tepes. For the 23-year-old this third place was his first podium result in the World Cup.
Strong team performance of Slovenia
Robert Kranjec completed the fantastic result of the Slovenian team with his 4th place. The ski flying World Champion landed at 194 m (183.3 points) and missed his second podium result by only 2.8 points. Also his teammate Jaka Hvala, who showed many long flights in Harrachov, could gain good points for the World Cup with his 11th place.
Andreas Stjernen came in fifth after a jump on 190 m with a total of 176.2 points. The Norwegian seems to be really strong this season on flying hills as he did well also in Vikersund. Two more athletes of Alexander Stoeckl could also finish in the Top 30. Rune Velta (149.5 m; 135.8 points) and Fredrik Bjerkeengen (153.5 m; 129.6 points) were 28th and 30th.
With his total of 172.7 points Simon Ammann finished sixth with his jump on 183.5 m. His teammate Gregor Deschwanden struggled in the air and could not end the day with a Top 30 result.
It was a good competition for the Austrians. Not only the winner, Gregor Schlierenzauer, achieved a very good result. In a wake of Schlierenzauer, also Wolfgang Loitzl (177.5 m; 168.4 points) and Martin Koch (178 m; 163.5 points) finished among the best ten jumpers as seventh and ninth. Michael Hayboeck, who landed at 160.5 m earned a total of 146.1 points and was 17th.
First points for Kraus
Marinus Kraus of Germany will leave Harrachov with positive memories. The 22-year-old posted a jump on 167 m and with his total of 143.9 points he finished 19th scoring World Cup points for the first time in his career. Also Michael Neumayer (165.5 m; 150.2 points, 14th), Felix Schoft (168 m; 138.5 points, 23rd) and Maximilian Mechler (156 m; 137.7 points, 25th) were strong at the Certak-hill.
Four out of five Polish jumpers gained World Cup points today. Kamil Stoch was the best Pole as eighth. He showed a jump on 177.5 m and earned 164.7 points. Piotr Zyla (169 m; 152.1 points), was 13th. Also Maciej Kot (163.5m; 148.4 points) and Krzysztof Mietus (159.5m; 141.6 points) could present themselves well in front of many Polish spectators.
The Italian jumpers performed very well in front of the home crowd of their Czech coach Jakub Jiroutek. Sebastian Colloredo (168.5m; 158.3 points) finished on a sensational tenth place. Also Davide Bresadola could score five World Cup points with his 26th place.
The Czech fans could also be happy about the good results of Cestmir Kozisek (164 m; 149.7 points, 15th) and Antonin Hajek of Harrachov (157.5 m; 135.1 points, 29th).
Schlierenzauer extends lead
With today's results Gregor Schlierenzauer extended his lead in the overall World Cup. He now leads with 1200 points ahead of Anders Bardal (757 points) and Severin Freund (656 points), both did not compete in Harrachov.
In the ski flying World Cup Schlierenzauer is ahead with 360 points, followed by Robert Kranjec (290 points) and Simon Ammann (194 points).