February 12, (THEWILL) – Marius Lindvik of Norway won gold in the men’s huge hill with a spectacular second jump, shocking hot favourite, Ryoyu Kobayashi.
Lindvik, who was ranked second coming into the final round after scoring 144.8 on his first jump, recorded a stunning 151.3 for an Olympic gold-winning total of 296.1, causing a significant upset.
Since Toralf Engan’s victory in the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Lindvik is the first Norwegian to win an Olympic big hill gold medal. And, after winning Japan’s first Olympic ski jumping gold on the normal hill in 24 years, Kobayashi had to settle for silver with a score of 292.8.
Karl Geiger, the world cup leader, claimed bronze with 281.3 points thanks to a 144.6 final round score. And, a score of 277.2, saw three-time olympic champion Kamil Stoch finish fourth.
Kobayashi had initially taken the lead with a leap to solidify his contender status. The Japanese skier, who had finished 10th in Pyeongchang four years ago, jumped 142m to take the lead and score 147 points.
Lindvik was in second place in the qualifying round with a total of 144.8 points after jumping 140.5. With a score of 140.7, Slovenia’s Timi Zajc qualified third.
With 140.3 points, Stoch came in fourth. Geiger was ecstatic as he landed his 138-meter leap, but he was penalised for style marks, and he finished sixth with a score of 136.7 metres.
Junshiro Kobayashi, Kobayashi’s brother, was the last man to qualify for the 30-man field, with a score of 120.4, 0.2 points ahead of Norwegian Daniel Andre Tande.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
