The Harry Potter of ski jumping has done it again.
Swiss ski jumper Simon Ammann claimed another gold today at Whistler Olympic Park, blowing away the long hill competition over two rounds with a 144-metre and a 138-metre jump, and setting a new world record by earning four gold medals at Winter Games.
"I always have this magical force to jump far here and this is amazing," said Ammann.
The 28-year-old, who was dubbed "Harry Potter" for his double Olympic championship performance in the 2002 Games, repeated his feat after earning the first gold of the 2010 Games on the normal hill competition Saturday (Feb. 13) and his second today.
Ammann wracked up a total of 283.6 points for his jumping and landing skills today with second and third place finishers not even in contention as they scored of 269.4 and 262.2 points.
Poland's 32-year-old Adam Malysz took the silver with a 137-metre jump and a 133.5-metre jump. Austrian Gregor Schlierenzauer took bronze by launching 130.5 metres the first round and 136 the next, mirroring the medal standings of the normal hill competition.
The sport's dominant Austrians, who had secured four of the 10 Olympic long hill final round berths in World Cup competition, had disputed Ammann's modified curved bindings after he won the gold in the normal hill competition Saturday.
Head coach Alexander Pointer publicly questioned whether his equipment was FIS-approved. The answer came Friday (Feb. 19) during equipment evaluation for the long hill competition. The jury unanimously accepted and confirmed the ruling, according to race director Walter Hofer.
Ammann strapped into the same skis and bindings he's used since beating the top Austrian rival Schlierenzauer in the World Cup event earlier this month.
The lone Canadian to jump, 22-year-old Calgarian Stefan Read, was 46th in the first round, from which the top 30 jumpers advanced to the final round.
