August 27, 2009 – Here is the latest Ski Jumping News from the FIS, including a report from last weekend’s FIS Grand Prix in Ski Jumping in Zakopane, Poland. Also included is an update from the final event in FIS Continental Cup Ski Jumping summer series won by Ulrike Graessler. Read on for the whole story.

FIS Grand Prix continues in Zakopane
The FIS Grand Prix in Ski Jumping continued last weekend in Zakopane (POL). The sixth individual competition saw the return of last season’s dominator Gregor Schlierenzauer (AUT) whilst his teammate Wolfgang Loitzl, did not compete in the initial summer competitions.

In his first appearance this summer, Schlierenzauer not only won the qualification, but also the first competition on Saturday. He was followed by newcomer Johan Remen Evensen from Norway and to the delight of thousands of local fans, the Polish veteran Adam Malysz.

On Sunday, it was time for another Norwegian to climb to the top of the podium as Anders Jacobsen beat Schlierenzauer in a remarkable competition in rainy weather and celebrated his first victory this summer. Evensen showed the longest jump of the day with 137m and reappeared on the podium in 3rd place. Besides Evensen and Jacobsen, the entire Norwegian team did well in Zakopane, with Tom Hilde (8th) and Bjoern Einar Romoeren (9th) in the top 10 on Saturday and Hilde in 4th on Sunday.

After a successful return to competition, Schlierenzauer commented: “My jumps are not perfect yet. I will not go to Japan, but will probably compete again in Klingenthal. For me it was important to see what shape I am in after my injury and now I know that I can compete with the best again.”

The FIS Grand Prix continues at the weekend with two competitions in Hakuba (JPN). Switzerland’s Simon Ammann solidified his lead in the overall GP rankings with 5th and 6th place finishes in Zakopane. Before the Far East excursion, Ammann leads the standings by 123 points ahead of Adam Malysz. After Hakuba, the Grand Prix final will be held in Klingenthal (GER) on 3rd October 2009.

Graessler Tops Women’s Ski Jumping Summer Series
The final competitions in the ladies’ FIS Continental Cup Ski Jumping summer series were held in Lillehammer (NOR) last week. In the first competition on Friday, Ulrike Graessler (GER) celebrated already her fourth victory this summer. Line Jahr from Norway finished second ahead of 15-year-old American Sarah Hendrickson. On Saturday, local hero Jahr clearly won the competition and was joined on the podium by Hendrickson in second and Yuki Itoh of Japan in third.

With the competitions in Lillehammer, the summer season ended for the ladies. Ulrike Graessler took a clear win in the overall rankings with a total of 580 points, followed by Ayumi Watase (JPN) with 339 points and Graessler’s teammate Melanie Faisst in 3rd with 289 points. Hendrickson finished 4th and Bigna Windmueller (SUI) 5th. The ladies’ next COC event will take place in Rovaniemi (FIN) in early December.

Meanwhile, the men’s COC series also visited Lillehammer for two competitions. After seven events, the rankings are led by Robert Kranjec (SLO) ahead of teammate Primoz Pikl and Akseli Kokkonen who now starts for Norway. The men’s summer Continental Cup series continues on 5th-6th September at the Alpensia Resort in Korea.