August 30, 2008 (Zakopane, Poland) – The FIS Grand Prix Ski Jumping will continue in Zakopane (POL) on August 29-30 with two competitions. After the first four events, the overall standings are led by Gregor Schlierenzauer (Aut), who is 10 points ahead of his teammate Andreas Kofler who has 260 points. German Georg Spaeth is ranked third.

There are six competitions left on this summer’s schedule – after Zakopane, the teams head to Hakuba (Jpn) before the last two races are held in Klingenthal (Ger) and in Liberec (Cze) in early October. The Liberec event on October 4 will serve as a pre-World Championship test event on the normal hill as both the women’s and men’s Continental Cup series visit the 2009 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships venue.

Zakopane will also stage the last competition in the international 2008 FIS Youth Ski Jumping series. For the third time, these events – targeted at female and male jumpers up to 14 years of age – have been staged in conjunction of the FIS Grand Prix Ski Jumping events in Hinterzarten (Ger), Einsiedeln (Sui), Pragelato (Ita) and Zakopane.

“The FIS Youth events continue to be a great experience for these young jumpers. Organized together with the FIS Grand Prix, for many of them these are the first competitions staged in a professional manner including their very first proper equipment controls and accreditation procedures. And the inclusion of some of the world’s top ski jumpers such as Andreas Küttel and Simon Ammann in the FIS Youth prize-giving ceremonies leaves enduring memories for the young athletes,” commented Walter Hofer, FIS Race Director Ski Jumping.