October 2, 2008 (Liberec, Cze) – The 15th edition of the FIS Grand Prix Ski Jumping will culminate this week in Klingenthal (Ger) and Liberec (Cze). On Friday, 3rd October, the day of German reunification, the large hill in the Vogtland Arena at Schwarzberg will host the summer season’s second to last competition. The final of the series will be held at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 venue of Liberec (Cze) on October 4.

Thanks to his two victories in Japan, Simon Ammann (Sui) leads the overall Grand Prix rankings 17 points ahead of Gregor Schlierenzauer (Aut). With two events remaining on the schedule Schlierenzauer is well positioned to fight for the summer title while his teammate Andreas Kofler (Aut) is ranked third, also with a fighting chance.

This weekend’s competitions in Liberec will also feature two ladies’ Continental Cup competitions on the small hill at the Jested jumping arena. For the ladies, these competitions will serve as pre-World Championships events as the premiere of the ladies FIS World Championships in Ski Jumping are less than 140 days away.

After last weekend’s four Continental Cup competitions, two each for the ladies and men, in Oberstdorf (Ger), the ladies’ standing is led by Ulrike Graessler of Germany ahead of teammate Magdalena Schnurr. In the men’s rankings Markus Eggenhofer leads ahead of Manuel Fettner, both of Austria.