I thought there couldn't possibly be another finish as exciting as there was to the Women's Cross Country this morning.
How wrong was I?!
I was getting just as excited towards the end of the Big Hill competition!!!
In the first round, Noriaki Kasai and Kamil Stoch both jumped 139.0m. But, Kamil took the lead because each judge gave him 0.5 points more than Nori. And, Nori had a bigger wind deduction.
Third in the first round was Severin Freund, with Petr Prevc 4th.
Simon Ammann was only 29th in the first round, jumping 125m. And although he got 131m in the 2nd round, it only moved him up to 23rd overall.
Notable names that didn't make it to the 2nd round included Morgi, who finished 40th with a jump of 122m. Diethart was 32nd, with a jump of 126.5m. And Andreas Wellinger, who finished 45th after jumping 117m, and did not have a good landing.
Despite hurting himself last week, and being told to sit out for 6 weeks, Robert Kranjec was back jumping 5 days later! He finished 37th in the first round, with a jump of 125.5m. As Patrick Winterton said in commentary, the good news to take from this is that he won't jump in the 2nd round, and so will get some more rest before the Team Competition on Monday.
The 2nd round got interesting very quickly. Russian veteran Demitri Vassiliev only finished 25th in the first round. But in the 2nd round got the longest jump of the day with 144.5m! Unfortunately, his bum and then both his hands touched the snow, so his style points were very low. But, even if he had got a good landing, he wouldn't have won anyway with his first round effort.
Marinus Kraus jumped just after Vassiliev, and ended up leading for most of the competition! It was only towards the end of the competition that he relinquished the lead, eventually finishing 6th.
It soon got VERY exciting. Prevc jumped, and then Freund slotted in behind him. This left the Top 2 - Kasai and Stoch.
Kasai jumped, and reached 133.5m. And the whole place erupted when he took the lead! All the Japanese jumpers ran out and give Nori a massive group hug!
Then it was Stoch. He jumped, and only managed 132.5m. And there was a tense wait for the judges scores to come through.
As it happened, there was practically no difference between Kasai and Stoch in terms of judges scores or compensation. So, Stoch won due to his advantage from the first round.
I LOVE Nori, so I was absolutely gutted. But, Nori wasn't too disappointed... he was delighted!!! And so was the TV director. When Stoch was being carried around the out-run by his team-mates, the TV cameras were firmly focussed Kasai!
And when they were marching out for the podium ceremony, it was Kasai who was visibly happiest. Whereas the others were just walking out, Nori was waving to the crowds. You could see his smile for miles! When they reached the podium, Nori had a massive jump up in the air when he was given the flowers. He was absolutely loving it!!!
And so was everybody watching!!!
So, Stoch has become only the third person to win the Olympic double.
But, the interesting thing was - it was the current Top 3 in the World Cup standings that were on the podium. The leader won, while Prevc and Kasai just swapped positions.
A great competition, and a great result. Roll on the Team Competition!
CaroLiza_fan
How wrong was I?!
I was getting just as excited towards the end of the Big Hill competition!!!
In the first round, Noriaki Kasai and Kamil Stoch both jumped 139.0m. But, Kamil took the lead because each judge gave him 0.5 points more than Nori. And, Nori had a bigger wind deduction.
Third in the first round was Severin Freund, with Petr Prevc 4th.
Simon Ammann was only 29th in the first round, jumping 125m. And although he got 131m in the 2nd round, it only moved him up to 23rd overall.
Notable names that didn't make it to the 2nd round included Morgi, who finished 40th with a jump of 122m. Diethart was 32nd, with a jump of 126.5m. And Andreas Wellinger, who finished 45th after jumping 117m, and did not have a good landing.
Despite hurting himself last week, and being told to sit out for 6 weeks, Robert Kranjec was back jumping 5 days later! He finished 37th in the first round, with a jump of 125.5m. As Patrick Winterton said in commentary, the good news to take from this is that he won't jump in the 2nd round, and so will get some more rest before the Team Competition on Monday.
The 2nd round got interesting very quickly. Russian veteran Demitri Vassiliev only finished 25th in the first round. But in the 2nd round got the longest jump of the day with 144.5m! Unfortunately, his bum and then both his hands touched the snow, so his style points were very low. But, even if he had got a good landing, he wouldn't have won anyway with his first round effort.
Marinus Kraus jumped just after Vassiliev, and ended up leading for most of the competition! It was only towards the end of the competition that he relinquished the lead, eventually finishing 6th.
It soon got VERY exciting. Prevc jumped, and then Freund slotted in behind him. This left the Top 2 - Kasai and Stoch.
Kasai jumped, and reached 133.5m. And the whole place erupted when he took the lead! All the Japanese jumpers ran out and give Nori a massive group hug!
Then it was Stoch. He jumped, and only managed 132.5m. And there was a tense wait for the judges scores to come through.
As it happened, there was practically no difference between Kasai and Stoch in terms of judges scores or compensation. So, Stoch won due to his advantage from the first round.
I LOVE Nori, so I was absolutely gutted. But, Nori wasn't too disappointed... he was delighted!!! And so was the TV director. When Stoch was being carried around the out-run by his team-mates, the TV cameras were firmly focussed Kasai!
And when they were marching out for the podium ceremony, it was Kasai who was visibly happiest. Whereas the others were just walking out, Nori was waving to the crowds. You could see his smile for miles! When they reached the podium, Nori had a massive jump up in the air when he was given the flowers. He was absolutely loving it!!!
And so was everybody watching!!!
So, Stoch has become only the third person to win the Olympic double.
But, the interesting thing was - it was the current Top 3 in the World Cup standings that were on the podium. The leader won, while Prevc and Kasai just swapped positions.
A great competition, and a great result. Roll on the Team Competition!
CaroLiza_fan