Willingen SJ: Austria claims team title

Austria won the team event at a ski-jumping World Cup event Sunday — 11 days before the World Championships.
WILLINGEN, Germany — Austria won the team event at a ski-jumping World Cup event Sunday — 11 days before the World Championships.
    Gregor Schlierenzauer, Andreas Kofler, Wolfgang Loitzl and Arthur Pauli combined for 998.4 points, 7.9 ahead of Norway and 66.6 ahead of third-place Germany.
    “Winning the team event helps bring the jumpers closer together heading into the world championships,” Austrian coach Alexander Pointner said.
    Several top countries skipped the event ahead of the Nordic Ski World Championships, which take place Feb. 22-March 4 in Sapporo, Japan.

Ski-jumping World Cup results

WILLINGEN, Germany — Results Sunday from a ski-jumping World Cup (jump distances in parentheses):
Team event

1. Austria (Wolfgang Loitzl, 140.5-131.0 meters, Andreas Kofler, 140.0-133.0, Arthur Pauli, 124.0-135.0, Gregor Schlierenzauer, 136.0-141.0), 998.4 points
2. Norway (Tom Hilde, 130.0-127.0, Anders Bardal, 136.5-131.5, Anders Jacobsen 137.0-147.0, Roar Ljokelsoy, 130.0-138.5), 990.5.
3. Germany (Stephan Hocke, 124.5-128.5, Tobias Bogner, 127.0-126.0, Joerg Ritzerfeld, 133.0-128.5, Michael Uhrmann, 142.0-139.0), 931.8.
4. Switzerland, 880.9.
5. Czech Republic, 836.6.
6. Kazakhstan, 745.4.
7. Russia, 734.3.
8. Finland, 684.7.

Nations Cup standings
1. Austria, 3,599 points.
2. Norway, 2,413.
3. Switzerland, 1,750.
4. Finland, 1,602.
5. Germany, 1,321.
6. Poland, 991.
7. Russia, 861.
8. Czech Republic, 598.