PREDAZZO, Italy, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Heavy snowfall forced officials to call the result of the men’s super team ski jumping event early at the Olympics on Monday with only three jumpers remaining in a close competition, angering those who had been in contention for a medal.
Seventeen two-man teams started the event, with eight advancing to the final after three rounds of jumping.
Snow began to fall heavily during the final segment, causing repeated delays as officials struggled to keep the in-run clear.
They therefore ended the competition early and reverted to the second round standings to determine the medals.
Austria led after the second round and won gold, with Poland and Norway picking up the silver and bronze respectively.
In ski jumping, athletes take off in reverse order of their scores, meaning those leading jump last, and as a result Austria, Poland and Norway did not take a final jump.
Germany ended up in fourth place, losing out on a podium spot to Norway by 0.3 points.
"It is what it is. But yeah, I'm a bit unhappy," said Philipp Raimund, who won a gold medal for Germany in the normal hill individual competition earlier in the Games.
Slovenia came in fifth, less than two points behind Norway. Austria won by a 21.4-point margin.
"The result is not what I wanted because on every competition we came to win a medal, but it wasn't a fortunate day for us," said Domen Prevc of Slovenia. "And like 1.9 points (behind third place), it's a really small difference.
"Unfortunately, the luck was not on our side today."
However, Norway thought it was the correct decision, saying the heavy snow created unfair conditions for the final jumpers.
“I think the decision in the end was necessary," said Norway’s Johann Forfang."When the snow was that dense and tight, it covered the tracks and the speed went too much down to continue.
“And if they were to finish the round, then that would be more unfair than cancelling the second or the third round.
The snowfall eased shortly after the competition was called off and before the ski jumpers received their medals.
"All people think the same. They think they should have waited longer," Ren Nikaido of Japan, who were sixth, told Reuters.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton and Tommy Lund in Predazzo, Italy; Editing by Ken Ferris)
