Sport News
Large hill gold for Bernhard Gruber
In a spectacular competition, Bernhard Gruber from Austria has taken the World Champion title on the large hill in Falun. He finished 11.9 seconds earlier than his toughest opponent, Francois Braud from France. The bronze medal went to Johannes Rydzek from Germany who crossed the finish line 14.9 seconds after Gruber and collected his third medal in Falun.
The jumping competition on Falun’s HS 134 large hill delighted the enthusiastic crowd with long jumps and lots of thrills. Austrian Bernhard Gruber, who had been unhappy with his jumping on all of the previous days, finally showed his true abilities and set 133 metres, taking the jumping win with a total point score of 119.8 points. Jason Lamy Chappuis continued to impress in Falun and held the intermediate second rank with 129 metres and 118.5 points which put him 5 second behind Gruber on the cross-country track. Teammate Francois Braud also landed at 129 metres and started seven second after Gruber with his 118 points.
Maxime Laheurte on the intermediate fifth rank (128.5 m; 114.1 p.) completed a strong French jumping performance but the longest jump of the day went to Japan’s Yoshito Watabe who showed 134 metres, placing him in the fourth intermediate position. Defending title holder Eric Frenzel had a beautiful jump of 132.5 metres which put him in the sixth position, only 24 seconds behind the leader Gruber and well among the favourites for the day’s title.
Other hot favourites to watch out for in the race were Japan’s Akito Watabe on rank 9 (+0:32), Bryan Fletcher and Magnus Moan on ranks 13 and 14 (+0:44 and +0:47) and also the World Champion from the normal hill, Johannes Rydzek, tried to extend his medal collection from rank 17, 51 seconds behind Gruber.
Ski Jumping Results
In a riveting race, the jumping leader Gruber, Lamy Chappuis and Braud worked together very well to keep the pursuing group consisting of about 10 athletes off their backs. Gruber and Braud were strong enough to stay ahead of the field for the whole race. After Jason Lamy Chappuis had to let go of his teammate and Gruber on the last lap, Braud aud Gruber battled it out on the last hill with Gruber powering up „Mördarbacken“ in his typical wild „Burner“-style. But Braud kept going strong after he had to let Gruber go and skied an undisputed second place into the finish, right behind the new Austrian World Champion.
His teammate and Nordic Combined superstar Jason Lamy Chappuis did not fare so well once he was swallowed up by the large pursuing group. After being overtaken by Johannes Rydzek, Magnus Moan and Bryan Fletcher, he finished sixth. Moan and Rydzek battled the bronze medal out in a nailbiter of a finish line sprint with the newly minted World Champion on the normal hill having the extra bit of energy. The German claimed his third consecutive medal in Falun and edged the Norwegian off the podium. USA’s Bryan Fletcher finished fifth, the other Top Ten ranks went to Japan’s Akito Watabe, Sebastien Lacroix and Tino Edelmann who defeated reigning Champion Eric Frenzel in a sprint that had to be decided by a finish photo.
The jumping competition on Falun’s HS 134 large hill delighted the enthusiastic crowd with long jumps and lots of thrills. Austrian Bernhard Gruber, who had been unhappy with his jumping on all of the previous days, finally showed his true abilities and set 133 metres, taking the jumping win with a total point score of 119.8 points. Jason Lamy Chappuis continued to impress in Falun and held the intermediate second rank with 129 metres and 118.5 points which put him 5 second behind Gruber on the cross-country track. Teammate Francois Braud also landed at 129 metres and started seven second after Gruber with his 118 points.
Maxime Laheurte on the intermediate fifth rank (128.5 m; 114.1 p.) completed a strong French jumping performance but the longest jump of the day went to Japan’s Yoshito Watabe who showed 134 metres, placing him in the fourth intermediate position. Defending title holder Eric Frenzel had a beautiful jump of 132.5 metres which put him in the sixth position, only 24 seconds behind the leader Gruber and well among the favourites for the day’s title.
Other hot favourites to watch out for in the race were Japan’s Akito Watabe on rank 9 (+0:32), Bryan Fletcher and Magnus Moan on ranks 13 and 14 (+0:44 and +0:47) and also the World Champion from the normal hill, Johannes Rydzek, tried to extend his medal collection from rank 17, 51 seconds behind Gruber.
Ski Jumping Results
In a riveting race, the jumping leader Gruber, Lamy Chappuis and Braud worked together very well to keep the pursuing group consisting of about 10 athletes off their backs. Gruber and Braud were strong enough to stay ahead of the field for the whole race. After Jason Lamy Chappuis had to let go of his teammate and Gruber on the last lap, Braud aud Gruber battled it out on the last hill with Gruber powering up „Mördarbacken“ in his typical wild „Burner“-style. But Braud kept going strong after he had to let Gruber go and skied an undisputed second place into the finish, right behind the new Austrian World Champion.
His teammate and Nordic Combined superstar Jason Lamy Chappuis did not fare so well once he was swallowed up by the large pursuing group. After being overtaken by Johannes Rydzek, Magnus Moan and Bryan Fletcher, he finished sixth. Moan and Rydzek battled the bronze medal out in a nailbiter of a finish line sprint with the newly minted World Champion on the normal hill having the extra bit of energy. The German claimed his third consecutive medal in Falun and edged the Norwegian off the podium. USA’s Bryan Fletcher finished fifth, the other Top Ten ranks went to Japan’s Akito Watabe, Sebastien Lacroix and Tino Edelmann who defeated reigning Champion Eric Frenzel in a sprint that had to be decided by a finish photo.
Source: fis-ski.com
