Austria wins gold in 1st Olympic men’s super team ski jump as event is shortened due to weather

Austria Clinches Gold in Olympic Super Team Ski Jump Debut Amid Snowstorm

Austria’s ski jumpers finally struck gold on Monday night in the inaugural men’s super team ski jump event at the Milan Cortina Games, redeeming what had been a disappointing Olympic campaign until then.

Jan Hoerl and Olympic rookie Stephan Embacher led throughout the competition before officials canceled the final round due to a sudden snow squall that created hazardous conditions. Poland secured silver, while Norway rounded out the podium with bronze.

“The last 10 days were hard for our team, so it was the last chance today,” said Hoerl, who was also part of Austria’s winning team at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. “We knew that, so we kept focused and we were able to enjoy five good jumps. It’s amazing, unbelievable.”

The victory provided much-needed redemption for the Austrian team, which had failed to reach the podium in any ski jumping event at these Games despite being a traditional powerhouse in the discipline. Before Monday’s competition, Hoerl’s best individual result had been fifth place on the men’s large hill, while Embacher had secured seventh-place finishes on both hills.

The super team event introduced a new format to Olympic ski jumping, replacing the previous four-man team contest with two-person teams. Seventeen nations competed in the first round, with the field narrowing to 12 for the second round and eight for the final round. However, as heavy, wet snow and shifting winds descended on the venue with only a few athletes left to jump, officials made the decision to cancel the final round and determine the winners based on second-round standings.

Sandro Pertile, race director for the International Ski Federation, explained that the deteriorating conditions would have created unfair competition for the remaining jumpers, as the heavy snow was slowing speeds on the in-run and wind patterns were shifting unpredictably.

The Austrians built their lead with impressive performances throughout the competition. Hoerl opened with a 137.5-meter (451-foot) jump in the first round, while Embacher delivered the day’s longest jump in the second round, soaring 139 meters (456 feet).

“My first time and to be Olympic champion is unbelievable,” said 21-year-old Embacher. “It was a great day.”

Poland’s silver medal continued the remarkable Olympic debut of Kacper Tomasiak, a rookie competing in his first year on the World Cup circuit who had already secured silver on the normal hill and bronze on the large hill at these Games. He was paired with Pawel Wasek, whose previous best Olympic result had been sixth place in a team event in 2022.

Norway’s bronze medalists Johann André Forfang and Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal added to Norway’s strong showing in the ski jumping events. For Forfang, the medal represented a measure of personal redemption after a difficult period. He was suspended for three months last year in a jumpsuit-tampering scandal that rocked Norwegian ski jumping. While Forfang was not charged with knowing about the manipulation, the controversy cast a shadow over his career and the sport.

The weather disruption created dramatic shifts in the standings. Japan’s Ren Nikaido, who had medaled in every ski jumping event at these Olympics, landed a third jump of 138 meters that might have put Japan on the podium had the competition continued. Slovenia’s Domen Prevc, the dominant skier this season and a double gold medalist at these Games, struggled with a 124.5-meter jump in the heavy snow.

Germany narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth, despite a strong 136-meter jump by Philipp Raimund through deteriorating conditions. The German team expressed disappointment at falling just short of a medal.

“It was almost third place, but overall it is a bit sour for me,” Prevc said of Slovenia’s fifth-place finish. “Unfortunately, we have to take this as it is.” Despite his disappointment, he acknowledged that canceling the final round was the correct decision given the dangerous conditions.

The U.S. team of Kevin Bickner and Tate Frantz reached the final round but finished eighth in the competition.

The super team event marks a new chapter in Olympic ski jumping, combining the traditional team aspect of the sport with a more streamlined format that showcases the talents of each nation’s top jumpers in a more focused competition.