Japanese victory in summer ski jumping - Ben Clatworthy, Courchevel
Friday August 13, 2010 - Email this article to a friend

As the sun started to set over Courchevel's Olympic ski jump it was fast becoming clear that 4 Nations Championship leader, Adam Malysz of Poland, was going to need to push very hard to win the second stage of the competition.

In the end a highly disappointing second jump relegated him to 4th place despite a 0.4 lead ahead of the final round.

Japanese jumper, Daiki Ito won the competition after convincingly stealing the lead from the championship leader.

View from the topThe Le Praz arena was packed for the day's competition.

There was a general buzz in the air as the competition drew near.

Traditional dancing and drumming added to the carnival atmosphere, whilst many thought the vuvuzela's fast detracted from it.

The early sunny weather was fast replaced by wind and clouds, however the rain held off and all the jumps were completed in the dry.

It was quite a day.

For a preview of the event see this earlier PlanetSKI story.

On the podiumAfter his final jump Daiki said, "I am very happy today, of course. I like this hill in Courchevel. Compared with my form two months ago when I was not jumping at all well, winning here is just great. I think my secret today was not to think too much - I also got lucky with the winds."

Austrian, Thomas Morgenstern, finished 7 points behind in joint second place with fellow Austrian, David Zauner.

Thomas broke his shoe in the first jump and it looked uncertain that he would get to jump again as he had no spare shoe.

David finished a disappointing 26th position in the opening round of the competition last weekend.

The result was David's first ever podium at the highest level in ski jumping.

After the jump he said, "This result is much more like my current form, in training I have been equal with Thomas regularly, my 26th place in Hinterzarten did not meet my expectations at all."

Results at the top of the overall championship have also seen some dramatic changes in the rankings.

Ito's win has seen him boosted from sixth to third position, whilst second place Thomas Morgenstern will be challenging to take the overall win now just one point behind continuing leader, Adam Malysz.

Today's shock result by David Zauner places him in fifth place overall.

Ski jumping in the summer

David Zauner was also awarded the 'Man of the Day' prize after his sudden assent in the overall championships.
 
Double Vancouver Olympic Gold Medalist, Simon Ammann of Switzerland, continued his poor form finishing in just 8th position and narrowly hanging on to his 6th place overall.

He will be hoping for a vast improvement overnight ahead of the final round of the competition.

For the competitors the night is spent on the road as the final round of the 4 Nations competition starts in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, on Saturday afternoon.

The drive takes 6 hours by coach and many of the teams leave after 10 o'clock.

The race jump skis will also need waxing ahead of the qualification jumps.

The final competition jumps will take place on Sunday afternoon.

For the first time this year members of the public were also invited to try their hand at ski jumping on the newly built 25m jump, which earlier in the day hosted a children's championship with children from the Courchevel Club des Sports battling it out in hope of one day competing in the main event.

Star of tomorrow?

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