Many favorites for normal hill event
The men's normal hill competition in Predazzo on Saturday promises to be extremely exciting. After the second day of training, when all favorites were taking part, it seems that the competitions will be very close - what is not really surprising on a normal hill.
The top favorites Gregor Schlierenzauer and Norwegian Anders Bardal proved that they are the top contestants for the World Championship title 2013 on the normal hill with showing the longest jumps today.
Besides the two best of the winter so far, also Austrian Manuel Fettner and three Germans, Richard Freitag, Severin Freund and Michael Neumayer, showed that they are in a top shape right now.
Kasai among the favorites
And then another athlete was very strong today, who already participated in the World Championships in Predazzo in 1991 and 2003. It's almost unbelievable that Noriaki Kasai presented himself in such a great shape in training. The Japanese jumped on 97 m, 98.5 m and 98 m.
The 40-year-old, who won two bronze and one silver medal in Predazzo 2003, proved that he might be capable of winning yet another medal this year. Kasai is now among the favorites for the individual competition on the normal hill and also in the mixed team competition.
The men's qualification will take place on Friday, at 6:00 pm CET. (Link: Schedule World Championships »)