Exciting final on the home stretch
The last three minutes of the ski jumping World Cup 2012/13 were characteristic of the whole winter, it was as exciting as never before. Only exception: the once again outstaning Gregor Schlierenzauer. But also he could not lead his Austrian team to winning the Nation's Cup for the ninth time in a row. (All World Cup points of individual and team competition of the winter count for the Nation's Cup. At the end the team with the points points wins).
Flashback:
The Austrians travelled to Planica with a lead of only 46 points over Norway (AUT 5096, NOR 5050 points). After the first day in Planica and the win of Gregor Schlierenzauer - his 50th in the World Cup - the lead was extended to 92 points, on the second day Norway made up for 50 points. That's the difference between the second (Norway) and third (Austria) place in a team competition.
So before the season's final event the Austrians had a lead of 42 points. There were no real changes after the first round, if Norway wants to win they need a top result and at the same time have to hope that Austria can't achieve that. Best Norwegian after the first round on Sunday: Rune Velta as sixth, followed by the best Austrian, Wolfgang Loitzl, as seventh. No real chance for Norway to win the Nation's Cup at this point.
But then Wolfgang Loitzl didn't have a good jump in the final and Rune Velta showed then posted the - what nobody know at the point in time - decisive jump. He lands at 217.5 m and takes the lead. Velta remains in the lead also after the jumps of Severin Freund, Kamil Stoch and Michael Neumayer, so he's already third now. But that would not be enough to bring Norway to the top in the Nation's Cup. He would still need to be one place better, with finishing second he would score 20 points than as third, that would be enough.
Slovenes make the difference
So if one of the two Slovenes, Peter Prevc or Jurij Tepes, will come in behind Velta with their second jumps, then Norway will win the Nation's Cup. Two Slovenes in top shape tip the scales. Peter Prevc jumps on 212.5 points and with this performance he is now 1.2 points behind Rune Velta. He is now at least second and Norway ends the eight year long winning streak of Austria. At the end the ranking was decided with one great jump on the final day in Planica.
A fantastic and exciting final, in which two would have deserved the win.