After his win on the normal hill, Kamil Stoch was also the best on the large hill at the Olympic Games in Sochi. The Pole is now the third ski jumper, after Matti Nykaenen (1988) and Simon Ammann (2002/2010) who won both individual competitions at one Olympic Games.
Just as historic is the second place: At age 41 (41 years and 254 days) Noriaki Kasai is now the oldest Olympic medalist in ski jumping history. The third place went to Peter Prevc, who won his second medal. The Slovene already took Silver on the normal hill. "It feels wonderful again", Prevc said.
Austrians and Germans still without a medal
It was a really bad day for the Austrians, like already on the normal hill they couldn't win a medal. Also the German team couldn't achieve a Top 3 result, Severin Freund was their best in fourth. In a difficult competition, the wind didn't have an influence on the fight for the medals, but some athlete's dreams were already over after the first round.
Some favorites struggled with the wind
Thomas Morgenstern, Andreas Wellinger and Robert Kranjec were struggeling with the changing wind conditions and missed the final.
The first highlight of the competition was Gregor Deschwanden's jump on 134.5 m in the first round. With 123 m in the final and 247.4 points he finished 14th - 8.2 points and nine places ahead of his teammate Simon Ammann. Also Anssi Koivuranta cwas lose to the medals after his first jump on 131.5 m, with 121.5 m in the second round he came in on a good eleventh place. On time for the top jumpers the wind increased. For Thomas Morgenstern, Robert Kranjec and Andreas Wellinger the competition was already over after the first round. Simon Ammann barely made the cut for the final.
Schlierenzauer's dream of gold is over
Gregor Schlierenzauer didn't have perfect conditions as well, he was only 14th. "It was difficult today. Ski jumping is more and more becoming a battle of equipment and wind. The stadium here is great, but you need the luck. My goal was gold, it didn't work. But if I look at Noriaki Kasai, I guess I'll get a few more chances", said Schlierenzauer.
Severin Freund was then the first of the top contenders to jump, 138 m, first place. Noriaki Kasai jumped one meter farther and took the lead. Peter Prevc was behind these two with 135 m. Then Kamil Stoch: The Pole was not impressed by the other performances and jumped on 139 m, with almost perfect style points. This earned him the lead after the first round.
Far jumps of Vassiliev and Kraus
Dimitry Vassiliev brought life to the RusSki Gorki Stadium. 144.5 m, but still no hill record because the hands of the local hero touched the snow. Marinus Kraus then posted a jump on 140 m and with this hill record the young German moved up from 24th to sixth. Vassiliev was the best Russian in 26th.
Anders Bardal came in 16th, his teammate Anders Fannemel was fifth with 264.3 points. Daiki Ito (252.5 points) and Reruhi Shimizu (252.2 points) were ninth and tenth, Gregor Schlierenzauer ended his "mission gold" with 255.2 points in seventh, 2.2 points behind Kraus and ahead of his teammate Michael Hayboeck (254.7 points). Then it was time for the grand final.
Kasai and Prevc celebrate
Peter Prevc jumped on 131 m and took the clear lead with 274.8 points. Severin Freund then had the chance to win the first individual medal for Germany since 2002. But 129.5 m were not enough for the deeply disappointed Bavarian. He was 2.6 points behind Prevc. "After my jump I enjoyed the show of Kamil and Noriaki", the Slovene told. With all his experience Noriaki Kasai showed a jump on 133.5 m and scored a total of 277.4 points. While his teammates ran in the outrun to celebrate with the 41-year-old, Kamil Stoch jumped on 132.5 m. It seemed that it took forever until the final points were calculated.
Stoch can't believe it
Then the result: Gold. 278.7 points. A historic day for Polish wintersports. "It's amazing. It's like a dream, I can't believe it", said Kamil Stoch, who was still overwhelmed. He is now the first male athlete of Poland to win two gold medals at Winter Games. "I made such a big mistake in the second round. I don't know how I could jump that far. I was too aggressive. But I won."
Anders Bardal, bronze medalist on the normal hill, was disappointed after the competition. "Of course I was frustrated after the first round. But this is ski jumping. I'm happy for Noriaki who really deserves this medal. And I'm looking forward to the team competition. We have a good team, we'll see."
The team competition on the large hill takes place on Monday at 6:30 pm CET.
