September 07, 2011 (Almaty, Kazakhstan) – The first FIS top level Ski Jumping competition in Almaty, Kazakhstan, ended with a premiere. 22-year-old Jurij Tepes from Slovenia took his first FIS Grand Prix Ski Jumping victory on the new hill in Almaty. In fact Slovenia celebrated a double victory because Jure Sinkovec finished 2nd as another first time podium result.

“Of course it’s a great feeling to celebrate my first victory here. Both jumps were good, I think I was also the best in the final round. I didn’t really notice what happened before me because I was so focused on myself and my jump,” said the happy winner.

It is a brand new hill that was built in Almaty on the outskirts of Kazakhstan’s largest city for the Asian Winter Games that took place in February. Ski Jumping arouses lots of enthusiasm amongst the fans with hundreds already coming to watch the training on Monday and 4,000 the competition on Tuesday. Tuesday was a national holiday in Kazakhstan as the citizens celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Kazakh constitution. Last winter, a Continental Cup was also held at the new facility on the Gorny Gigant, as the mountain on the outskirts of town is known.

Before the competitions in Almaty, the FIS Grand Prix visited Hakuba (JPN) for two events. Both competitions ended with the same result as the same three athletes were on the podium on both days – in the exactly the same order: Tom Hilde of Norway left Japan with two victories, whilst Poland’s Piotr Zyla collected two second places and local hero Taku Takeuchi two third place finishes.

Thomas Morgenstern, who did not take part in the Asian tour, is close to winning the overall Grand Prix ranking. He now leads by 150 points with only two more competitions to go. After 2003 and 2007, this would be the third overall victory for the Austrian. Only Adam Malysz has won three times, in 2001, 2004 and 2006.

For more information visit www.fisskijumping.com