Switzerland’s Simon Ammann and Austria’s Gregor Schlierenzauer will target a crucial Olympics edge when they take their World Cup duel to the classic Four Hills tournament today.
Ammann, the double Olympic gold medal winner in 2002 and last year’s World Cup series leader, will be the slight favorite against the Austrian, who is the defending World Cup champion.
The two men have dominated the early stages of this season’s title race with Ammann enjoying a 32-point lead over Schlierenzauer after six of 24 rounds.
Ammann has three wins a second place so far, but is wary of the Four Hills.
Last year, he lost all hope of becoming the first Swiss ski jumper to win the event, a disappointing eighth place in the third round at Innsbruck ending his hopes.
“Am I stronger than ever? It’s difficult to say but my jumps are perhaps more stable and I am winning effectively,” said Ammann, who was second to Austria’s Wolfgang Loitzl in last year’s Four Hills.
“For me also the Four Hills remains a mythic event,” he said.
With 26 career World Cup wins under his belt, the 19-year-old Schlierenzauer seems to be Ammann’s sole threat.
“I am in form, I’m in a hurry to take part in the Four Hills,” the teenager said.
Despite their World Cup dominance, both Ammann and Schlierenzauer appreciate that with eight jumps compressed into 10 days, the Four Hills boasts a tradition of surprise winners.
Loitzl is a perfect example.
Last year, he clinched three victories and a second place to storm to Four Hills victory.
However, in the World Cup this season the 29-year-old has had a third place at Kuusamo in Finland before toiling to a 22nd place finish at Lillehammer.
“I am not so far off my best and I have nothing to lose,” said the reigning world champion.
Norway’s Bjorn Einar Romoeren, who has won one World Cup round this season, could unsettle the top two as could Austria’s Thomas Morgenstern, the world’s top ski jumper in 2007-2008.
The great unknown factor is Finland’s Janne Ahonen.
Widely regarded as one of the finest ski-jumpers of the last decade, Ahonen won the Four Hills Trophy a record five times from 1999 to 2008 before retiring.
The 32-year-old has come out of retirement with the aim of winning an elusive gold medal in Vancouver in February.
“I’m capable of anything,” he said.
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