Finland’s Janne Ahonen confirmed his ski-jumping supremacy on Monday by taking the third leg of the Four Hills Tournament with an impressive win in Innsbruck ahead of Adam Malysz and Jakub Janda.
The unstoppable Finn is now just one victory away from a historic Four Hills grand slam, which would emulate the feat completed only once before, by Germany’s Sven Hannawald in 2002.
Ahonen’s first jump of 128.5 metres was the longest leap in the competition. For a change, his second jump was "just" 120 metres - but Ahonen himself said he was taking no chances and wanted to ensure a safe landing. On many occasions in this already memorable season, Ahonen has "outjumped the hill" and found himself coming down almost on level ground, with some ungainly landings.
In any event Ahonen's second jump was enough on Monday to ensure he triumphed over Poland’s Adam Malysz by 7 points. Jakub Janda of the Czech Republic came in 3rd.
This, the tenth win out of eleven FIS World Cup competitions, puts Ahonen 49.1 points ahead of Malysz in the Four Hills Tournament, and extends still further his already massive lead in the FIS World Cup standings.
The closing competition of the Four Hills Tournament will be in Bischofshofen on Thursday.
