Oberstdorf: Ahonen becomes the new World Champion

During the HS 137 event in Oberstdorf, Janne Ahonen grabbed his second World Championship medal after taking the bronze for the competition on the small hill. However, this time it was the desired gold. Roar Ljoekelsoey has compensated for the bad performance of Norway team in the team HS 100 event and today he settled for second spot on the podium. Silver medalist from the small hill Jakub Janda took third place and the bronze.

Ahonen took the lead already after the first leg with the longest jump of 141,5 metres. He beat Roar Ljoekelsoey (140,5 metres) and Adam Małysz, whose effort of 138,5 metres saw him into third place. In the second round, Adam Małysz lost his good place after a feeble jump of only 129 metres. He left the third spot to Jakub Janda, who soared to 141 metres in his second attempt, and finished back in 11th place. Second and first before the final round, both Roar Ljoekelsoey (138,5 metres) and Janne Ahonen (142,5 metres) managed to hold their positions.

The competition was surely a good one for Norway. Apart from Roar Ljoekelsoey's silver also Lars Bystoel made an impressive performance, coming into 4th place after his massive second round effort of 143 metres, which was the longest jump of the day. Other Norwegians, the hill record holder Sigurd Pettersen and Bjoern Einar Romoeren, finished in 10th and 12th positions respectively. However, the Germans should have done better: 14th place by Michael Uhrmann and 16th place by Martin Schmitt were the best results of German competitors in today's competition. The home favourite Georg Spaeth, 5th in the HS 100 event, came in 19th position.

Before the team event which will be held tomorrow, one thing is sure: Polish team will have try very hard to settle for a good place. Today, out of five Poles who had qualified for the competition, only Adam Małysz entered the top 30. Taking into account the good performances by Norwegians, Slovenes and Czechs, it would be frivolous to anticipate an easy win with these teams.