The first gold medal of the 2010 Olympic Games was clinched in the Callaghan Valley today, to the "Harry Potter" of ski jumping Simon Ammann of Switzerland.
The medal competition went ahead without Canadians at Whistler Olympic Park as Team Canada's jumpers failed to make the cut in Friday's qualifying rounds.
Amman, who was dubbed "Harry Potter" for his double Olympic championship performance in the 2002 Games, was already qualified as one of the 10 best performers on this season's World Cup circuit.
He did badly in the 2006 Games, but vowed to media that he hadn't lost his "magic touch."
Ammann proved himself today after landing a massive 108-metre jump, the longest of the day, to win with 276.5 points. Poland's 32-year-old Adam Malysz came second with 269.5 points.
Strong jumper Austrian Gregor Schlierenzauer slipped on landing after his first jump but came back from seventh place to take the bronze with a jump of 106.5 metres for 268.0 points.
On Friday (Feb. 12), 17-year-old Calgarian Eric Mitchell had the honour of being the first athlete to compete at the Winter Games, as the first competitor down the facility's ski jumping ramp.
The Canadians weren't expected to do well, with only Stefan Read on the team with previous Olympic experience. Canadian jumpers also don't have a single World Cup point this season.
MacKenzie Boyd-Clowes was Canada's top performer during qualifications, taking 44th place. The ski jumpers needed to finish in the top 40 to advance to the medal round on Saturday.
