If it’s any consolation to Norway’s frustrated female ski jumper Anette Sagen, who complained about foggy conditions at the world championships on Friday, her male counterparts also faced thick fog and poor visibility during their competition on Saturday. The Austrians did the best on the 100-meter jump at Midtstuen and the Germans won the Combined event, while Norway’s stars failed to shine.
Thomas Morgenstern of Austria won the gold medal for ski jumping in the “normal” ski jump at Midtstuen at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships (Ski-VM) in Oslo on Saturday. Morgenstern was way ahead of the pack, with a second jump of 107 meters and total points of 269.2.
Morgenstern’s fellow Austrian Andreas Kofler secured them a double victory when he took silver with a jump of 105 meters and 260.1 points, while Adam Malysz of Poland placed third for the bronze medal. Malysz jumped 102 meters and gathered 252.2 points.
Simon Ammann of Switzerland placed fourth while the best Norwegian, Tom Hilde, was fifth, even though Hilde just recently won at the World Cup on the men’s ski jumping circuit. He was disappointed with his first jump of 94 meters but improved his chances greatly when he landed at 101.5 meters on the second. It still wasn’t good enough to win a medal.
“I’m the world’s fifth-best jumper today, and that’s good,” Hilde told NRK. “But I would have gladly been higher up.” He also said it was great to be competing in the world championships and that the atmosphere at Midtstuen was “fantastic,” despite the bad weather.
Anders Bardal, the next-best Norwegian, placed ninth while Anders Jacobsen ended the day in a disappointing 15th place. Jacobsen landed at 99 meters in his final jump, but it was only enough to move him up from 22nd place.
“It just wasn’t my day,” the popular Jacobsen, who just recently became a father, told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). “My first jump was weak and the second jump wasn’t very good either. I think I’ve done better in training.”
The presence of Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit in the crowd wasn’t enough to boost the Norwegians’ chances on a day marred by transport problems from downtown Oslo up to the arenas at Holmenkollen and Midstuen, and by the heavy fog, sleet and snow.
Perhaps most disappointing of all: Johan Remen Evensen, who just last week set new world records in sky flying at the reconstructed Vikersundbakken west of Oslo, fell during his first jump and was forced out of the competition.
“It was my own mistake,” Evensen told NRK. “This was a big disappointment. I just have to start from scratch before the team competition tomorrow (on Sunday).”
Germans won the Combined event
Norwegian jumpers and skiers also fared relatively poorly in the Combined events. “It was embarrassing to do so poorly with so many (Norwegian) spectators,” skier and jumper Jan Schmid told NRK. He placed 24th.
The best Norwegian, Mikko Kokselien, was sixth in a competition won by Eric Frenzel of Germany, who set a new record at Midtstuen with a jump of 109.5 meters. His fellow German Tino Edelmann gave Germany a double victory when he won the silver, while the bronze medal went to Felix Gottwald of Austria.
The ski jumpers will be back in action in team competition on Sunday at 3pm.
Views and News from Norway/Nina Berglund
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