Daily Updates — Live from Nagano

The Victors [click to zoom]

Japan Gets the Silver

Working for The Mountain Zone, you get asked to do, or wind up doing, things that you didn't necessarily think you ever would. When I walked into the Hakuba Ski Jumping facility today, I was in awe and thankful for my vocation.

[Hear the Roar of the Crowd for their Homeboys]

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More than 50,000 screaming and flag waving fans packed the stadium to see the world's best ski jumpers compete for Olympic Gold. Words fail to describe the intent and emotion of this predominately Japanese crowd, especially when one of their jumpers was midair. Adding to the hysteria was the fact that the Crown Prince of Japan was among the crowd.

"The stadium was enveloped in a nationalistic mantra for victory...

With the rising talent of 22-year-old Kazuyoshi Funaki and veteran and reigning large hill world champion, Masahiko Harada, the Japanese have a strong team this year. The two contenders for medals had the crowd pumped and nervous that Japan might get its second Gold Medal of the XVIII Olympiad. But the Japanese crowds are supportive of all athletes, and when an impressive jump was made they showed their appreciation despite nationality.

At the end of the first round, Harada had scored the best jump at a distance of 91.5 meters, earning him 121 points. This meant Harada, in front of his huge home crowd, would jump last in the second round. Harada had been reported to be under "pressure from the whole country" to win a Gold medal. Funaki remained in fourth with 114 points.

The Playing Field [click to zoom]

The second jump decides who walks away with the medals and this crowd was dead set on at least one of those medals belonging to the Japanese. When each Japanese jumper stepped up, the stadium was enveloped in a nationalistic mantra for victory. Japanese flags were ubiquitous and the crowd's excitement was contagious.

Today, Funaki soared in the second jump, much to the delight of his fans, scoring a 119.5 points that put him in first place. Click to hear the crowd's reaction to his jump (you should see the video). His lead didn't last long though. Finn Janne Ahonen, sixth after his first jump scored the biggest points of the day on his second jump with 121.5. Harada blew his second jump and his 107.5 points led him to fifth place overall.

But it was Finn Jani Soininen, whose 116 point second jump that, when combined with his solid first jump (118.5 point), stole the gold medallion from Funaki and the Japanese. Austrian Andreas Widhoelzl maintained his third place spot through both jumps and took home the bronze. Ahonen landed just out of medal contention in fourth.

No US athletes made it to the second jump.

The Japanese crowd was happy to walk away with silver, but with more ski jumping coming up, they want to find some gold in them thar Hakuba hills.

Results

1 Jani Soininen Finland 234.5
2 Kazuyoshi Funaki Japan 233.5
3 Andreas Widhoelzl Austria 232.5
4 Janne Ahonen Finland 231.5
5 Masahiko Harada Japan 228.5
6 Primoz Peterka Slovenia 223.0
7 Noriaki Kasai Japan 221.5
8 Kristian Brenden Norway 215.5
9 Hiroya Saito Japan 213.5
10 Stefan Horngacher Austria 212.5
11 Michal Dolezal Czech Republic 211.0
11 Reinhard Schwarzenberger Austria 211.0
13 Dieter Thoma Germany 208.5
14 Sven Hannawald Germany 207.5
15 Ari-Pekka Nikkola Finland 205.5
16 Nicolas Dessum France 202.0
17 Hansjoerg Jaekle Germany 200.5
18 Bruno Reuteler Switzerland 200.0
19 Martin Schmitt Germany 199.5
20 Mika Laitinen Finland 199.0
21 Robert Mateja Poland 197.5
22 Andreas Goldberger Austria 196.5
23 Henning Stensrud Norway 193.0
24 Frantisek Jez Czech Republic 192.5
25 Artour Khamidouline Russia 186.5
26 Jaroslav Sakala Czech Republic 185.0
27 Alexander Volkov Russia 184.0
28 Jakub Suchacek Czech Republic 183.5
29 Sylvain Freiholz Switzerland 182.0
30 Dmitriy Chvykov Kazakhstan 177.0

— Hans and Brent, Zone Team East, 'til the break o' dawn