Bardal with record jump, Hajek
and Slovenes strong
Photo: FISskijumping.com
The first official training at the FIS Grand Prix
in Almaty, Kazakhstan, took place on Friday. Because
there were only 49 competitors, a third training
round was held instead of the qualification.
The best jump in the first round was shown by Antonin
Hajek of the Czech Republic with 133 m. He was followed
by Slovenia's Rok Justin and Gregor Deschwanden
of Switzerland, both jumped on 130 m.
Hajek was also jumping strong in the second round.
With 134 m he had the second best jump, only Anze
Semenic of Slovenia was better with his 133 m with
a bit less head wind. Rune Velta of Norway was third
with 136 m.
The outstanding performance of the day was shown
by Anders Bardal in the third round. With 141.5
m the Norwegian landed three meters beyond the summer
hill record of Robert Kranjec. With 136 m and 134
m also Jernej Damjan and Matjaz Pungertar of Slovenia
had long jumps towards the end of this official
training session.
A very good and consistent performance was also
shown by Germany's Maximilian Mechler. He was fourth,
fourth and fifth he was among the best in all three
rounds. Among others, also Alexey Romashov (131.5
m in the 2nd round), Olli Muotka (134 m in the 2nd
round), Nick Alexander (132 m in the 3rd round)
and Reruhi Shimizu (133 m in the 3rd round).
The first competition in Almaty starts on Saturday
at 12:00 pm CET (trial round: 11:00 am CET).
