Janne Ahonen wins record 12th World Cup jumping event

Janne Ahonen wins record 12th World Cup jumping event{mosimage}Finnish ski jumper Janne Ahonen soared to a record 12th victory of the World Cup season Saturday by winning a large hill event.

Ahonen has won 12 of the 16 events this season. He missed the previous two because of illness and has two runner-up finishes. He topped the mark of Germany’s Martin Schmitt and Poland’s Adam Malysz of Poland — each with 11 victories in a season.

Jakub Janda of the Czech Republic finished second Saturday and Thomas Morgenstern of Austria was third.

Ahonen has a commanding overall standings lead with 1,360 points. Janda is at 826 and Austria’s Martin Hoellwarth is third at 806. Twelve events remain this season.

Ahonen trailed Morgenstern after the first heat. Although Ahonen had a longer jump at 142 meters, the Austrian, with a jump of 139 meters, earned more points. In the second heat, Ahonen went 138 meters to give him 283.5 points for a narrow victory.

Janda was sixth after the first heat but improved with a jump of 138.5 for a total of 281.5 points. Morgenstern settled for third after a second-heat jump of 134 meters, giving him 278.4 points.

-The Associated Press