Finns Enter Grand Prix as Favourites
Friday 10 August 2001 08:55 GMT
On Saturday, 11 August, ski jumpers will begin the first of a total of seven individual competitions in Hinterzarten, Germany, with the Finns as favourites.
Last year, Janne Ahonen dominated the summer series, beating Matti Hautamaeki, his teammate. Martin Schmitt, however, who was the German champion on the mat ski jump in Oberhof just two weeks before, has never taken first place overall.
But the Finns will surely find Martin Schmitt & Co a tough bunch of competitors. Attention will be focused not only on Schmitt, but also on last winter’s overall world trophy winner, Adam Malysz of Poland.
Unfortunately, the two-time world champion had to interrupt his training for ten days due to a patella-sinew tip inflammation in his left knee; last year it had been the right one. Nonetheless his performance on his home ski jump should be noteworthy.
Of the Norwegian competitors, who performed well below their potential at last winter’s games, Olav Magne Dønnem seems to be in particularly peak form. The Austrians have been plagued with several injuries, especially Andreas Widhoelzl, who can barely manage to do simple squats at the moment.
In addition to the line-up of star jumpers, a number of competitors from low profile ski nations will also participate. Overall, some 22 jumpers from 11 nations could avail themselves of the FIS development aid program, under the leadership of former Swiss trainer Jochen Danneberg.
3-D Body Measuring
FIS will measure all jumpers in Hinterzarten using a 3-dimensional camera, a so-called bodyscanner. This method will reduce the incidence of irregularities and cheating by competitors who wear suits that do not comply with official regulations.
According to FIS race director Walter Hofer, this will further refine the whole suit-measuring procedure. It can also go a long way to reducing pre-competition disqualifications of athletes.
The prize money per event is 12,000 Swiss francs. At the Hinterzarten preliminaries, the most popular event, the organizer will pay twice that amount per jump.
For the most part the summer competitions will be carried live by the respective national telecasting stations and by Eurosport. Still outstanding are three competitions in Asia.
tekst z
fis [
fis-ski.com]
jak wynika z powyzszego tekstu fini beda faworytami. nie wiadomo z jakiej strony pokaze sie adam malysz. od momentu gdy doszedl do tej niesamowitej formy jeszcze nie skakal w powaznych zawodach letnich. wygrywal co prawda, ale slabsze impezy.
