COC-M: Manuel Poppinger wins in Rena

Austria's Manuel Poppinger was the best ski jumper in the second competition of the Continental Cup weekend in Rena, Norway.

After the first round, the 28-year-old Tyrolean was fourth with his jump of 139.5 m, he then secured the win with the longest jump of the final round of 138.5 m and a total of 297.0 points. For Manuel Poppinger, this was the third win in the Continental Cup, the last time he stood on top of the podium in this competition series was a bit more than three years ago in Sapporo. "It was an awesome weekend, I am glad to be here again and to be on the podium. Yesterday was a bit difficult but today I managed to do my job and I had very good jumps. I am very happy about it", said Manuel Poppinger.

Marius Lindvik of Norway and Germany's Andreas Wank, who won on Saturday in Rena, tied for second with 291.0 points. Local hero Marius Lindvik posted jumps of 139 m and 135 m, Andreas Wank jumped on 138 m and 135 m and moved up from sixth to second in the second round. "I did two good jumps today and I am satisfied. I hope I can defend my leading position in the COC and get a bit better for Raw Air", said Marius Lindvik. After his great results recently, Andreas Wank is also hoping for a chance to start in the World Cup again: "My first jump today was very good but the landing was not perfect, so I lost some style marks and finished only sixth in the first round. I am really happy with the second place. It would be great if I would get the chance to compete in the World Cup"

Philipp Aschenwald, who was in the lead ahead of Lindvik after the first half of the competition, missed the podium in fourth, but together with the winner Manuel Poppinger, Daniel Huber (5th), Ulrich Wohlgenannt (7th) and Stefan Huber (8th), he provided a great team result for the Austrians with a total of five athletes among the best eight of the day.

Germany's David Siegel is still jumping very consistently and confirmed his currently good shape with the sixth place. The Top 10 were completed by Martin Hamann of Germany in ninth and Norwegian Joakim Aune in tenth.

Before the final two weekends of the season, Marius Lindvik leads the Continental Cup overall ranking with 1102 points, ahead of Andreas Wank (1040 points) and David Siegel (968 points).

The next two competitions will be held on March 10th and 11th in Zakopane (POL).