Morgenstern moves on in ski jumping

Krasnaya Polyana, Russia (SportsNetwork.com) – Former gold medalist Thomas Morgenstern of Austria was one of 40 ski jumpers to make it to the next round in the men’s normal hill competition at the Sochi Olympics.

Morgenstern placed ninth in Saturday’s qualification round with a score of 118.3. He is competing in Sochi less than a month after suffering head and lung injuries in a scary crash Jan. 10 during training for a World Cup event

The 27-year-old Morgenstern won gold in the large hill at the 2006 Winter Games and also captured gold in Turin as part of Austria’s winning team in the event. He was part of the team that won team gold at 2010 Vancouver Games as well.

Morgenstern will join fellow Austrians Thomas Diethart, Michael Hayboeck and Gregor Schlierenzauer in the final day of the event on Sunday. Hayboeck posted the top score in Saturday’s qualification round with a mark of 128.6. Diethart and Schlierenzauer did not take part in Saturday’s qualification round, as they had already pre-qualified for Sunday’s action.

Switzerland’s Simon Ammann also pre-qualified and he’ll be out to defend his gold from the Vancouver Games on Sunday. Ammann has four golds in Olympic ski jumping, winning both the normal and large hill events at the 2002 and 2010 Winter Games.

The United States will send three jumpers into Sunday with Anders Johnson, Peter Frenette and Nicholas Alexander making the cut. Canada’s Mackenzie Boyd- Clowes and Dusty Korek also will compete for a medal after placing 21st and 28th, respectively, on Saturday.

Categorized in: Olympics