Trondheim: Finland's star earns his fourth victory

The second event in Trondheim finished with the fourth victory in a row made by Janne Ahonen. Austria's Martin Hoellwarth was second, while another competitor from the Austrian team, Andreas Widhoelzl, took third place. Adam Malysz has proved that slowly but surely, he regains his good shape: today, he finished 7. after an impressive second-round jump of 122 metres.

It seems the weather doesn't let the ski jumpers forget about the impact it can make on a ski jumping competition. Today's weather conditions were even worse than yesterday, with melting snow, strong and sudden blasts of wind and falling rain. The first round was suspended for 20 minutes and when it finally started, the majority of ski jumpers had difficulties with surpassing the distance of 100 metres. Slovenia's Jernej Damjan took the lead after his jump of 113,5 metres (101.8 points) and remained the leader until an amazing jump from Roar Ljoekelsoey (127,5 metres, 130.5 points), which aroused an applause of handful of spectators. Ljoekelsoey secured the right to jump last in the final round. Martin Hoellwarth (124,5 metres) was placed second on 125.1 points. Janne Ahonen was forced to settle for third place after his 123-metre jump (121.9 points), ahead of Andreas Widhoelzl (117 metres, 108.6 points).

Adam Malysz jumped 109,5 metres and qualified for the final round with the 13. result (92.6 points). However, the performance made by the second Pole in the competition, Wojciech Skupien, was a complete failure. With a 77-metre jump, he took the last place.

Before the second round, the launch was moved up to gate five, but it didn't make it easier for the jumpers to fight for the distance. It was Adam Małysz who made the first jump over the distance of 120 metres: his 122 metres and good marks giving him the total of 211.7 points let him finish the competition in 7. place. Andreas Widhoelzl floated 126,5 metres (235.3 points) but Janne Ahonen managed to beat him with his second-run 124,5 metres, which gave him a total of 246.5 points. Martin Hoellwarth slipped into second place after a modest 118-metre jump and an advantage of only 0.2 point over Widhoelzl. Roar Ljoekelsoey didn't stand the pressure pitched up by the sudden gusts of wind and didn't manage to end the Ahonen's World Cup run- he jumped 113 metres and finished 4.

Today, Janne Ahonen bettered by one the mark the record which was previously held by his legendary countryman Matti Nykaenen, notching his 76th career podium. Moreover, he bettered the achievement of Martin Schmitt, who won three World Cup competitions in a row during the 1998/1999 season.