Sapporo: Austria repeats as ski-jump team champ

Austria relied on a solid team effort Sunday to win the ski-jumping large-hill team title at the Nordic World Ski Championships.

SAPPORO, Japan — Austria relied on a solid team effort Sunday to win the ski-jumping large-hill team title at the Nordic World Ski Championships.
    With double Olympic champion Thomas Morgenstern and rising star Gregor Schlierenzauer, Austria built up a solid lead heading into the final round of jumps.
    When Morgenstern landed a final jump of 125 meters, the Austrians had wrapped up the gold with 1,000.2 points. Norway finished second with 953.3 points while host Japan finished third with 905.9 to pick up its first medal of the meet.
    ''I had a great feeling today, like at the Olympics,'' said Morgenstern. ''My teammates did very well and that took a lot of pressure off me for the final jump.''
    Andreas Kofler and Wolfgang Loitzi also helped Austria build up a solid lead before Morgenstern's final jump, which allowed the Austrians to defend the title they won at the last World Championships at Oberstdorf, Germany, in 2005.
    Morgenstern won gold in the team and large-hill events at the Torino Olympics.
    ''Thomas is a real key player for us,'' said Kofler. ''He likes to jump last and is always able to make the most of his jumps.''
    Loitzl took a lot of the pressure off his teammates with Austria's longest jump of 133.5 meters to open the second round.
    The last time Japan won a team medal in a major ski-jumping event was at the 2003 World Championships in Italy.
    Austria led the field after the first round of jumps, followed by Norway and Japan.
    Nagano Olympic gold medalists Noriaki Kasai and Takanobu Okabe teamed up with youngsters Daiki Ito and Shohei Tochimoto to give the local fans a thrill.

Sapporo World Championships ski-jumping team event results
Team (K120)
1. Austria, 1,000.2 points.
2. Norway, 953.3.
3. Japan, 905.9.
4. Finland, 869.8.
5. Poland, 857.2.
6. Russia, 849.5.
7. Switzerland, 839.1.
8. Germany, 837.6.