Stefan Kraft leaps to gold for Austria in ski jumping final
BySportsbeat
Updated 25/02/2017 at 22:02 GMT
Stefan Kraft took the crown in the ski jumping World Championship final after two mammoth leaps secured him victory in Lahti, Finland.
Austrian Manuel Fettner, Austrian Stefan Kraft and Austrian Gregor Schlierenzauer celebrate after the men normal hill individual event of the 2017 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland, on February 25, 2017
Image credit: AFP
The Austrian skier jumped 99.8m and 98m, amassing 270.8 points on his way to World glory.
He finished ahead of nearest rival Andreas Wellinger, with the German clocking 268.7 points after registering jumps of 96.5m and 100m.
Wellinger's compatriot Markus Eisenbichler took the bronze medal following leaps of 95m and 100.5m.
Overall World Cup leader, Polish skier Kamil Stoch, finished fourth and missed out on a podium finish by just 1.1 points.
Kraft, who sits second in the overall standings behind Stoch, becomes the first Austrian to medal at this year's Championships in Finland.
"This is great, it was a dream come true", said 23-year-old Kraft.
Kraft emulates the success of compatriot Thomas Morgenstern, who was the last Austrian normal hill World Champion in 2011, and his coach Heinz Kuttin, who won on the normal hill in Val di Fiemme in 1991.
"These were different times," Kuttin said. "I'm happy that he took this big win. It was a fantastic final, also because of the two Germans and their 100m jumps."
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