Friday misses victory despite hill record
Despite a hill record in the first round, ski jumper Richard Freitag missed a second World Cup victory of his career. The 20-year-old from Aue had impressed the competition on the Granåsen hill with a 140.5-meter jump, but dropped to second place with a 133-meter jump and an overall score of 287.9 behind Daiki Ito (295.1). The Japanese not only deprived Freitag of the triumph but also, with a 141.0-meter jump, took the hill record just earned.
Severin Freund also had the podium in sight. Despite a stomach flu, the Rastbückler jumped to third place in the first round (136), but with a fall after landing his 133.5 m jump Freund dropped to ninth with 266.2 points. Richard Freitag had given Germany its only win of the season so far in December of last year in Harrachov, Czech Republic.
Not appearing in the second round were Andreas Wank (Oberhof) and Michael Neumayer (Berchtesgaden). Wank, who had left a strong impression in the qualification, clearly missed the final qualification for the top 30 with a 124 m jump, placing 39th. Neumayer finished 45th after a 121.5 m jump. Maximilian Mecher (Isny) had already failed in qualifying.
In the overall World Cup, the runner-up Gregor Schlierenzauer continued to lose ground to the leading Norwegian Anders Bardal. For his twelfth place Schlierenzauer earned only 22 points and now lies with 1,157 points 122 behind the third-placed Bardal in Trondheim (1,279). Best German is still Richard Freitag in seventh (914). Next World Cup weekend is next Sunday with the large hill event in Oslo.
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