PREDAZZO, Italy, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Austria's Jan Hoerl and Stephan Embacher delivered a commanding performance on the large hill to win the first-ever men's ski jumping super team gold at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Monday.
At Milan-Cortina, the men's super team replaces the men's large hill team event, with the format featuring teams of two athletes competing over three rounds, rather than four-person teams over two rounds.
Weather conditions became challenging late in the competition. With six jumpers remaining in the third round, deteriorating winds forced a temporary delay and prompted gate adjustments. The event was halted again with three athletes left, and organizers ultimately cancelled the remainder of the round.
As a result, standings after the second round were used to determine the final podium. Hoerl and Embacher secured gold with 568.7 points. Poland's Kacper Tomasiak and Pawel Wasek claimed silver on 547.3, while Norway's Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal and Johann Andre Forfang rounded out the podium with 538.0 points.
"It's unbelievable, my first time [at the Winter Olympics] and to be Olympic champion is unbelievable. It was a great day. Everyone was really good so we can enjoy it now," said Embacher.
Austria, who captured gold in the men's team event at Beijing 2022, started strongly from the outset. Hoerl and Embacher set the tone in the opening round, leading the field with a combined 291.2 points - a 10.3-point advantage over second-placed Slovenia, before extending their lead to over 21 points ahead of Poland at the conclusion of the second round.
