Switzerland's Simon Ammann conquered
his nerves to win the Olympic Games large hill title
on Saturday and become the first ski jumper in history
to win four individual golds.
Ammann, who pulled off the double in the 2002 Salt
Lake City Games, also won the 2010 normal hill title
last Saturday.
The 28-year-old recorded jumps of 144m and 138m
for a total of 283.6 points to beat off Poland's
Adam Malysz (137m and 133.5m for 269.4pts) and Austria's
Gregor Schlierenzauer (130.5m and 136m for 262.2pts).
It was the same podium as last week's normal hill.
"I'm speechless. What can I say? I was so nervous.
It was a nerve-wracking experience," said Ammann.
"But I had this magic force to jump far. This
is truly great."
Schlierenzauer said he was content with a second
bronze and was now looking for a gold in the team
event.
"It's really cool. I fought for this and it's
a dream. Now I am looking forward to the team event
with Austria," he said.
Finnish ski jump legend Matti Nykanen won four four
gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics but one
of those came in the team event.
