02/16/26 04:11:00
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02/16 16:09 CST Austria wins gold in 1st Olympic men's super team ski jump as
event is shortened due to weather
Austria wins gold in 1st Olympic men's super team ski jump as event is
shortened due to weather
By BRIAN MELLEY
Associated Press
PREDAZZO, Italy (AP) --- Austria won the Olympic debut of the men's super team
ski jump on Monday, capturing its first medal in the sport in the Milan Cortina
Games as heavy snow and wind canceled the final round of the event.
Poland took silver and Norway got bronze.
The new format replaced the former four-man team contest on the large hill with
teams of two. Seventeen nations jumped in the first round and the top 12 made
the second round. The best eight moved on to the final.
But as a snow squall held up competition with only a few skiers left to make
their final jump, the round was canceled and the second round standings
determined the winners.
Sandro Pertile, race director for the international ski federation, said the
heavy, wet snow was slowing speeds on the in-run and the shift in winds was
going to create unfair conditions for the remaining competitors.
The result was redemption for the Austrian team that had won the men's team
event in Beijing in 2022, but had not reached the podium in this Olympics.
"The last 10 days were hard for our team so it was the last chance today," said
lead Austrian jumper Jan Hoerl, who was part of the 2022 winning team. "We knew
that, so we kept focused and we were able to enjoy five good jumps. It's
amazing, unbelievable."
Hoerl opened with a 137.5-meter (451-foot) jump and Olympic rookie Stephan
Embacher in the second round landed a 139-meter (456-foot) jump, the longest in
the contest.
"My first time and to be Olympic champion is unbelievable," Embacher said. "It
was a great day."
Austria led Slovenia, Poland, Germany and Japan after the first round.
Poland moved into second and Norway moved into third in the second round as
Slovenia slid into fifth place.
Poland's Kacper Tomasiak, a rookie in his first year on the World Cup circuit,
has been the surprise of men's Olympic ski jumping, winning a silver on the
normal hill and a bronze on the large hill. He was paired with Pawel Wasek,
whose best Olympic finish had been sixth in a team event in 2022.
The Norwegian team was made up of Johann Andr Forfang, who had won gold on the
large hill and silver on the normal hill in Pyeongchang in 2018 but had not had
a good Olympics before Monday, and Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal, who won silver in
the mixed team event in these games.
Forfang was suspended last year in a jumpsuit-tampering scandal that brought
shame to the country that invented the sport.
Forfang and teammate Marius Lindvik were suspended for three months last year
after their coaches and a staff member were caught on camera tampering with
their suits.
Stitching was added to the suits to stiffen the crotch area, allowing the
athletes to fly farther.
Neither Lindvik nor Forfang was charged with knowing about the manipulation,
but FIS said the jumpers "should have checked and asked questions about the
nighttime adjustments."
The team leaders involved were recently banned from the sport for 18 months.
Going into the final round, only a few points separated Germany, Slovenia and
Japan from the top three positions.
Japan's Ren Nikaido, who has won a medal in every ski jump event at this
Olympics, landed a third jump of 138 meters, which could have put Japan on the
podium had the final round not been canceled. Ryoyu Kobayashi also could have
jumped a third time.
Slovenia's Domen Prevc, the dominant skier this season, was one of the few
skiers to fly in the heavy snow, and landed a poor jump of 124.5 meters.
Germany's Philipp Raimund, who won the men's normal hill event, then flew 136
meters through heavy snow, putting his country in the lead with four jumpers
--- all with higher second-round scores --- remaining.
Tomasiak was the last skier to negotiate the snow and landed his shortest jump
of the competition, putting Poland in third behind Slovenia.
The round was canceled with Norway, Japan and Austria's final skiers not making
a third jump.
Raimund said it was a sad result ending up in fourth.
The result meant Prevc could not add to the gold medals he won on the men's
large hill and in the mixed team competition in his first Olympics. He blamed
the team's finish on the poor landing of his second jump.
"It was almost third place, but overall it is a bit sour for me," Prevc said.
"Unfortunately, we have to take this as it is."
He said canceling the round, though, was the right decision.
The U.S. team of Kevin Bickner and Tate Frantz made it to the final round but
ended up in eighth place.
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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