Janne Ahonen returns and wins

Janne Ahonen marked his return to the World Cup circuit with a victory on Hochfirstschanze in Neustadt (HS-142). The Czech Republic's Jakub Janda was second, while Thomas Morgenstern of Austria completed the podium in third. The winner of the last week's event in Bad Mitterndorf, Adam Małysz, finished in 7th place.

Although bad wind conditions made the organisers cancell the qualification round, the competition itself wasn't much disturbed by the weather. In the first round, the leader of the World Cup standings Janne Ahonen soared to 142 metres, which was the longest jump of today's competition. However, as Ahonen's landing left a lot to be desired, he lost marks for technique and had to settle for 2nd place after Thomas Morgenstern, who made a flawless jump of 139 metres. Adam Małysz, after a nice jump of 138 metres, took 4th place after Roar Ljoekelsoey.

In the second leg, Martin Hoellwarth jumped a huge 140 metres and moved from 8th to 4th place. Jakub Janda also improved his first-round position: with his second attempt of 138,5 metres, he overtook Adam Małysz (131 metres) and Roar Ljoekelsoey (132,5 metres). It was obvious that the second position could not satisfy Ahonen. The Finn struggled to make a long and technically correct jump and he made it:after an effort of 138 metres, he took the lead ahead of Jakub Janda. Thomas Morgenstern, the leader after the first round, didn't manage to stop Ahonen: his 134 metres could only ensure him the third place.

After his win in Neustadt, Janne Ahonen became the first ski jumper to earn 12 victories in one season. The previous record of 11 victories was shared by Adam Małysz and Martin Schmitt. In World Cup standings, he leads with a staggering amount of 1360 points, which makes it 434 points over Jakub Janda and 464 points over Martin Hoellwarth.