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From the Olympics Toward Tomorrow
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Japan wins Olympic team jumping gold
 Japan's ski jumping team |
9:30- Start
Japan's ski jumping team finally exorcised the disappointment of Lillehammer with an emphatic gold medal performance Tuesday in the Olympic team competition.
Before tens of thousands of screaming Japanese fans, anchor Kazuyoshi Funaki secured the gold medal with a 125-meter jump in snowy, windy conditions as the four-man home squad finished with a total of 933.0 points.
Defending champion Germany, led by three-time Olympian Dieter Thoma, took home the silver in a distant 897.4 points while Austria won bronze for the second straight Olympics, scoring 881.5.
At the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, Japan had to settle for the Olympic silver when last jumper Masahiko Harada flubbed on his last effort, presenting the gold to Germany.
And for an instant, Japan's gold medal chances were in doubt at the ski jumping stadium in Hakuba when Harada, the No. 3 jumper this time, struggled with fog and poor visibility on the inrun and traveled only 79.5 meters on his first try.
That put Japan back in fourth place after the first round of jumping. But the tide turned in the second round, when leadoff jumper Takanobu Okabe unleashed a mammoth leap of 137 meters to break the large hill record.
Hiroya Saito followed with a 124-meter effort.
Harada then redeemed himself for Lillehammer, casting the ghosts that have haunted him for four years, with a 137-meter jump as Japan rose to the top of standings and stayed there for good.
Bronze medalist at last week's large hill event, Harada shed tears as he hugged his teammates before Funaki, the last jumper of the day, secured Japan's first gold medal in the event.
''We did it, we did it,'' Harada said, his voice cracking with emotion.
Tuesday's event put a cap on a brilliant two weeks of jumping by the home team, winning two gold medals, one silver and one bronze. (Kyodo News)
Final results of team ski jumping Tuesday in the 18th Olympic Winter Games at Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture (K-120):
1. Japan (Takanobu Okabe, Hiroya Saito, Masahiko Harada, Kazuyoshi Funaki) 933.0
2. Germany (Sven Hannawald, Martin Schmitt, Hansjoerg Jaekle, Dieter Thoma) 897.4
3. Austria (Reinhard Schwarzenberger, Martin Hoellwarth, Stefan Horngacher, Andreas Widhoelzl) 881.5
4. Norway (Henning Stensrud, Lasse Ottesen, Roar Ljoekelsoey, Kristian Brenden) 870.6
5. Finland (Ari-Pekka Nikkola, Mika Laitinen, Janne Ahonen, Jani Soininen) 833.9
6. Switzerland (Sylvain Freiholz, Marco Steinauer, Simon Ammann, Bruno Reuteler) 735.0
7. Czech Republic (Jakub Suchacek, Frantisek Jez, Michal Dolezal, Jaroslav Sakala) 710.3
8. Poland (Adam Malysz, Lukasz Kruczek, Wojciech Skupien, Robert Mateja) 684.2
9. Russia (Nikolai Petrouchine, Artour Khamidouline, Alexander Volkov, Valery Kobelev) 639.7
10. Slovenia (Miha Rihtar, Peter Zonta, Blaz Vrhovnik, Primoz Peterka) 610.3
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11. Kazakstan (Pavel Gaiduk, Alexandr Kolmakov, Dmitriy Chvykov, Stanislav Filimonov) 602.0
13. South Korea (Kim Heung Soo, Kim Hyun Ki, Choi Yong Jik, Choi Heung Chul) 373.8
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Copyright 1999 The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun