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From the Olympics Toward Tomorrow
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Soininen wins normal hill jump gold, Funaki 2nd
 Kazuyoshi Funaki |
9:30- Start
Jani Soininen broke the hearts of the Japanese spectators lining the hill at the ski jumping stadium in Hakuba on Wednesday as he soared into a perfect blue sky draping the Japan Alps and clinched
the gold medal in Olympic normal hill ski jumping event.
The 25-year-old Finn collected a winning total of 234.5 points after two solid jumps of 90 and 89 meters to finish ahead of local favorite Kazuyoshi Funaki and Austrian Andreas Widhoelzl.
''I'm very happy to win. The Japanese jumpers are very strong, but I'm very good, too,'' said Soininen, who sailed past first-round leader Masahiko Harada for the gold.
Harada, meanwhile, had to settle for fifth, landing well shy of the landing point he needed to win on his second leap.
Reigning world large hill champion Harada, also considered a heavy favorite on the normal hill in Hakuba, flamed the expectations of Japanese fans by taking the lead after the first round with the day's longest leap of 91.5 meters.
But after Soininen's second jump eclipsed Funaki for the lead, Harada was left as the last jumper who could claim the gold medal for Japan.
Harada, however, without the benefit of a favorable wind, traveled a meager 84 meters on 90-meter hill and was greeted at the bottom of the hill with a wail of disappointment from 40,000 spectators who were waiting to see Japan's first ski jumping Olympic gold since the 1972 Sapporo Games.
Soininen, on the other hand, was then hoisted high into the air on the arms of his jubilant teammates while a funeral-like atmosphere fell over the predominantly Japanese crowd.
There was a small change of luck which divided the results of the final two jumpers. Soininen benefited from favorable winds in his second try while Harada had the opposite fate.
''Winds began to blow and swirl just before Soininen's turn. Even he had to wait for 41 seconds before going down the ramp (despite good winds),'' said Japan head coach Manabu Ono. ''When it came to Harada, the judges gave the green light when the winds were not in favor of him.''
Only four points separated the top four finishers.
Funaki made up for his 87.5-meter first jump with a leap of 90.5 meters and a near perfect landing to move up from fourth to take the silver with 233.5 points.
Widhoelzl combined 88 with 90.5 meters for the bronze with 232.5, edging Finland's Janne Ahonen by one point.
''I regret the results, I should have jumped like I did in the second round. A loss is a loss,'' the 22-year-old Funaki said of his first jump despite his decent performance in his first Olympic appearance.
Like Harada, Funaki went into the normal hill event as a strong contender with the overall championship in the Four Hills tournament over the New Year holidays and the world flying championship earlier this season.
Hoping for a repeat of Japan's 70-meter hill medals sweep in the 1972 Sapporo Games, a full-capacity crowd packed the jumping venue in this central Japan ski resort village.
The first group of the local fans arrived at the entrance gate around 4 a.m. in the morning, more than five hours before the competition began, on a day blessed with cloudless skies after fog and heavy snow wreaked havoc with the Olympic schedule.
The bad weather in the previous three days led to the postponement of a number of Alpine skiing events on the nearby Happo-one slopes while none of the official ski jumping practice sessions were completed. (Kyodo News)
Final results of normal-hill (K-90) ski jumping Wednesday in the 18th Olympic Winter Games at Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture:
1. Jani Soininen, Finland 234.5 points (first jump 118.5 points, second jump 116.0)
2. Kazuyoshi Funaki, Japan 233.5 (114.0, 119.5)
3. Andreas Widhoelzl, Austria 232.5 (114.5, 118.0)
4. Janne Ahonen, Finland 231.5 (110.0, 121.5)
5. Masahiko Harada, Japan 228.5 (121.0, 107.5)
6. Primoz Peterka, Slovenia 223.0 (109.0, 114.0)
7. Noriaki Kasai, Japan 221.5 (113.5, 108.0)
8. Kristian Brenden, Norway 215.5 (112.0, 103.5)
9. Hiroya Saito, Japan 213.5 (110.5, 103.0)
10. Stefan Horngacher, Austria 212.5 (107.0, 105.5)
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30. Dmitriy Chvykov, Kazakstan 177.0 (93.5, 83.5)
32. Stanislav Filimonov, Kazakstan 85.0
46. Choi Heung, South Korea 77.5
48. Pavel Gaiduk, Kazakstan 76.5
53. Choi Yong, South Korea 69.0
55. Kakhaber Tsakadze, Georgia 66.5
58. Alexandr Kolmakov, Kazakstan 63.0
59. Kim Hyun Ki, South Korea 61.5
61. Kim Heung Soo, South Korea 59.5
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Copyright 1999 The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun