There was frustration for Thomas Morgenstern after his winning performance at the FIS World Cup ski jumping meet in Sapporo, Japan, was disqualified on a technicality.
Wiping out the Austrian’s results for the weekend, judges said that Morgenstern had opened the pull strap of his suit before he went through the exit gate during Sunday’s session. His team-mate Martin Koch, who inherited third place, sympathised with the double OIympic champion. "It's great to stand on the podium, but I also feel sorry for Morgi,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sunday’s winner Simon Ammann took the overall victory with jumps of 139.5m and 135m to extend his lead over Gregor Schlierenzauer in the World Cup championship.
"This victory was worth the trip. I could improve my jumping. The take-off was powerful. This was the first victory this year and it gives me more and more power. Now I have to reconsider whether I'll go to Zakopane or not.”
Local hero Noriaki Kasai finished second on Sunday and second overall. "This is my home hill and to be on the podium is something really special for me", he said.
Ammann leads the World Cup rankings with 939 points, Schlierenzauer is on 736, Andreas Kofler 587 and Morgenstern is fourth on 579.
Next stop in the world cup is Zakopane, Poland, January 22-23.
For more action, head to Red Bull Skiing, German speakers can catch up with Thomas on Facebook while the rest of us can visit his bilingual site.
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