The normal hill competition in Predazzo was a fierce battle. Probably one of the best, or maybe the best competition of this ski jumping season. This fight was so engrossing, let’s be honest – did anyone predict that Gregor Deschwanden would finish in third place or that Kacper Tomasiak would become a silver medallist. That’s the story about a man with a fear of heights that won an Olympic gold. Let’s summarise the Normal Hill contest.
by Oliwier Rychły
Philipp Raimund, the new Olympic Champion
A man who hasn’t won a World Cup competition just won an Olympic Gold and became a new Olympic Champion. It’s unbelievable he made it! And it must be highlighted – he did it on his Olympic debut. He was ranked sixth in the World Cup coming into this Olympics.
His best result was fourth in the World Championships in the team event and only one win in the mixed team event. So, as I mentioned – he hasn’t won a WC contest before.
“I’ve never won a World Cup, so now I’m Olympic champion and I will be known probably for the rest of my life because I have a gold medal and that is unbelievable,” Raimund said.
Some journalists asked the Olympic champion why hasn’t he won a WC event this season, while he was on the podium. His answer? Domen Prevc.
The 25-year-old is right about that, but did he really stop Domen Prevc? Or did Domen Prevc stop himself? That’s a good question. Slovene was classified in eighth place after first round and finished the competition in sixth place.
„It’s the greatest triumph of my whole life. My family, friends, teammates are here and I want to thank them all. It’s just beautiful,” said the new Olympic Champion. „It’s not over. We will see what we can do in mixed competition and on large hill also,” he added.
Kacper Tomasiak: „I didn’t expect that, but I’m very happy.”
Polish fans may be disappointed during this winter season of ski jumping. Their favourites have been lacking success. Poland sent Kamil Stoch, Paweł Wąsek and Kacper Tomasiak to Milano-Cortina. Tomasiak was believed to be capable to do the same thing as Dawid Kubacki in Beijing. The first training rounds proved them right. Kacper was on fire; he was second on Sunday first training.
This competition was surprising from the beginning. A good jump was achieved by Giovanni Bresadola (102,5m) and Song Qiwu (101m). No one was expecting them to produce such good jumps. In the lead, I mentioned Gregor Deschwanden – his unexpectedly solid form was not obvious, as he hadn’t shown much throughout the season.
In the first round, the Polish ski jumper jumped 103 metres and was in second place ex aequo with Deschwanden. The top jumpers of World Cup classification as Stefan Kraft, Stephan Embacher and Jan Hörl didn’t manage to outrun Foubert, Tomasiak and Deschwanden.
None of the top five jumpers had won a World Cup Competition.
The final round was so exciting. Many jumpers made long jumps, but the peak came at the end of the competition. Nikaido delivered a jump of 106.5 metres and Deschwanden produced 107 metres. They were ex aequo in first place.
Then Tomasiak held his nerve and jumped 107 metres, which was enough to take the lead. Sundal who was third after first round achieved 105 metres, but it wasn’t enough for a medal. Valentin Foubert produced 102.5 metres, and with that jump he effectively “gave” the silver medal to the Polish jumper.
The last jump of the competition – he did it. Philipp Raimund achieved 106.5 metres and became a new Olympic Champion, but I mentioned that before.
„I made very good jumps, they weren’t perfect, I know, but I’m tired, but also very happy,” Tomasiak said.
Summary, predictions and medal count
Let’s sum up this competition. It was really engrossing and just… epic. In my opinion it was the best contest I’ve seen so far (during this season of course). There were some surprises like Tomasiak’s silver medal or Prevc’s sixth position. A wind condition was stable, so rivalry could be fair.
The Olympics in general are at a high level. Especially in ski jumping. It was a very big pleasure to watch this medal fight.
What can happen at large hill? Honestly, I don’t know. I would say that Domen Prevc will come back and win just like in World Cup. But maybe I’m wrong… Well, we’ll see.
Header photo credit: Tadeusz Mieczyński
Leave a comment