OLYMPICS: Ski Jumping-Germany's Raimund soars to gold, Slovenia's Prevc falls short

PREDAZZO, Italy – Germany’s Philipp Raimund captured the gold medal in the men’s normal hill ski jumping event at the Milano Cortina Olympics on Monday, soaring ahead of Poland’s Kacper Tomasiak.

Tomasiak settled for silver, while Japan’s Ren Nikaido and Switzerland’s Gregor Deschwanden shared the bronze. Favorite Domen Prevc of Slovenia finished in sixth place.

Raimund claimed the title with a final jump of 106.5 meters, scoring 274.1 points—3.4 points ahead of Tomasiak. Nikaido and Deschwanden were 8.1 points behind the winner.

The 25-year-old Raimund impressed early, flying 102 meters in the first round to earn the final jump of the competition. He handled the pressure with confidence to secure his first Olympic gold.

Despite previously admitting a fear of heights, even withdrawing from a ski flying event in March, Raimund delivered when it mattered most.

“I know there’s a lot of pressure from the media and outside, but my coach, the whole staff, my girlfriend—they were taking all that off my shoulders so I could just concentrate on myself. I want to say thank you to everybody,” Raimund said. “I’m extremely proud of myself that I could do two amazing jumps and stand on top at the end.”

The 19-year-old Tomasiak was thrilled with his silver medal. “It is a dream coming true. I wasn’t really expecting that at my first Olympics. I’m a little surprised, but very happy. I jumped really good,” he said.

Gold medal favorite Prevc struggled from the start, landing eighth in the opening round with a 100-meter jump. His 105-meter second-round jump briefly put him in first place, but he ultimately finished outside the medal positions.

“Already the small (normal) hill is difficult for me, and there was a bit of back wind. Honestly, after yesterday’s training, I did not expect too much,” Prevc said. He added that he approached the competition hoping for a top-10 finish.

“It’s on one hand a success for me, but on the other hand, I of course came here to win medals, so it’s a little bit of a salty feeling,” he said.

-Reporting by Tommy Lund and Liz Hampton in Predazzo; Editing by Ken Ferris/Reuters