Nordic Roundup: Distance mark now 239 meters; Tiechmann's title, Lady jumpers; Lucky 13 for Lodwick?

Nordic Roundup: Distance mark now 239 meters; Tiechmann’s title, Lady jumpers; Lucky 13 for Lodwick?{mosimage}Just when it looked like Janne Ahonen of Finland might end his record season (12 victories plus large hill gold at Worlds) with a world distance record in Planica, Slovenia, it vaporized. Two years ago, another Finn, Matti Hautamaeki, set the world distance mark at 231 meters. Hautamaeki was en fuego as he came to Planica this time; he had won six straight World Cup jumping meets and although he couldn’t overtake Ahonen, he was smokin’ – and most people figured he’d extend his record.

But Hautamaeki wasn’t the show in Planica. Well, he was part of it again. But only part of it.

Norwegian Bjoern Einar Romoeren re-set the mark at 234.5 meters in the training round of the ski-flying event Sunday; in ski-flying, training jumps are eligible for world records – but the jumper muist stand through the landing. In the final round, Hautamaeki, eighth in the first round, jumped 235.5 to reclaim the distance mark. But, minutes later, ever-erratic Norwegian Tommy Ingebrigtsen, third in the first round, nearly re-re-set the record at 236m on the final round (until he touched a hand down). Then, Norway’s Bjoern Einar Romoeren, third in the first round, soared to 239 meters!

And then Ahonen – second from the opening round – jumped an eye-popping 240 meters…but, like Ingebrigtsen, he fell and the distance was not recognized as the record. “The landing was really bad,” Ahonen said. “Probably we had a little too much in-run speed, but everybody who was sitting on the start bar wanted to jump to a world record.” First-round leader Roar Ljoeklsoey, another Norwegian, had one last shot but conceded Ahonen’s fall moments earlier rattled him a bit, and he produced only the eight-best jump of the round, dropping to second, 10 points back of Romoeren, whose 239-meter final jump held as the record…and helped him win the competition, too.

In an unrelated development, eurosport.com reported Wednesday that Adam Malysz, Poland’s former World Cup and world champion jumper, has threatened to quit jumping unless the Polish Ski Association gave his manager, Eddie Federer (no relation to Swiss tennis great Roger Federer), a big new contract. It was not immediately clear what the smallish Malysz would do in another life.

Teichmann clinches X-C title

Axel Teichmann, who powered Germany to its lone cross-country medals at last month’s nordic World Championships in Germany, is the new men’s World Cup cross-country champion. He sealed the deal Saturday at the Swedish Ski Games in Falun, finishing seventh behind Evgenij Dementiev of Russia, good enough to hold off German Tobi Angerer for the crown.

The race featured photo finishes for first place, third and fifth. Teichmann succeeds teammate Rene Sommerfeldt as World Cup champion. Marit Bjoergen of Norway, who won the women’s pursuit, clinched the women’s title a while ago.

Women jumpers finish season

It was, perhaps, a little poetic the way the women ski jumpers ended their inaugural Continental Cup season at Holmenkollen. After listening to so much hot air and filibuster through the years, the women ran into some nasty winds March 12 but soldiered on, completing the competition with Norwegian star Anette Sagen blistering the women’s hill record, pushing it to 128 meters as she won her fifth straight meet (and eighth overall). American Lindsey Van was second with Jessica Jerome third in the final outing.

Sagen won eight of the 12 Continental Cup events, going back to the first competitions last July at Utah Olympic Park on the outskirts of Park City. Van was second in the points, just as she was a year ago in the Grand Prix standings. Jerome was fifth while Alissa Johnson made it three Yanks in the top 10, finishing in ninth place overall.

Casey Colby, on loan as coach from the National Sports Foundation, told Ski Racing the last two events – at Vikersund, Norway, and then Holmenkollen – gave many men’s coaches a chance to see what the women, who hope to see their sport added to the Olympics at Vancouver in 2010, could do. “They were impressed because they saw the girls were jumping 96, 99 meters, same as the boys,” he said. “Overall, the season was good although it was hard for the girls because they’d be home for only a week or 10 days a month, which made it tough on classwork.”

It was the same story in Europe, he added, where a lot of the women jumpers still are in school, so they didn’t compete in every event although the field in February or March events swelled as the meets moved to weekends. The big question facing women jumpers is proceeding toward being included in the 2007 nordic World Championships in Sapporo; Colby said, “The FIS contract with Sapporo was signed a couple of years ago, so although FIS can urge Sapporo organizers to include women’s jumping, they can’t force the Japanese because it’s not in the contract. That request will have to come from the Japan Ski Association “and there’s been no indication if they’ll support the idea.”

At the last competition, Austrian pioneer Eva Ganster announced her retirement. “She’s a great ambassador for the sport,” Colby said. Ganster turns 37 on March 30.

No superstition for Lodwick

Todd Lodwick is going for U.S. title No. 13 this week in the U.S. nordic combined and jumping championships on his home hill, at Howelsen Hill in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The combined title event is Thursday, doubling the jumping as the normal hill (HS100) jumping competition; Friday, it’s the large hill competition.

Lodwick has won seven nordic combined championships and taken five jumping gold medals; last season, he had a hat trick, winning the combined championship and both jumping events. Ten of his 12 titles have come at Howelsen, going back to the 1994 season, his first winter on the world Cup (he opened that season by winning his first international competition, taking what then was called an Intercontinental Cup – now it’s World Cup-B – meet in Lillehammer).

“I’m not superstitious. Thirteen’s fine, 15 would be nicer,” he smiled, indicating he’d love a chance to sweep again. Clint Jones, who also grew up jumping at Howelsen, will provide the major competition. Bill Demong also figures to be a contender. Johnny Spillane may sit out both events while resting his aching back, which hobbled him at the World Championships.