Philipp Aschenwald wins difficult qualification in Oberstdorf
Dec 28, 2020·Ski Jumping
Austria's Philipp Aschenwald surprisingly won the qualification for the opener of the 69th 4-Hills-Tournament in Oberstdorf (GER). Aschenwald came in ahead of World Cup leader Halvor Egner Granerud and Slovenia's Cene Prevc.
The conditions were difficult on the Schattenberg-hill in Oberstdorf due to the heavy snowfall, which lead to various interruptions to clean the track of the snow. Not only due to the conditions, the result of the qualification was not the main topic of discussion today. After Klemens Muranka had tested positive for Covid-19, the entire Polish team was not allowed to participate in the official training and the qualification today and the top athletes, like defending champion Dawid Kubacki and two-time 4-Hills-Tournament winner Kamil Stoch, had lost their chances of fighting for the overall title.
But this situation might change on Tuesday: A second test of Muranka on Monday was negative, now the entire Polish team is tested again overnight. If this second test of Muranka and the team is negative as well, the Polish team would be cleared by the health authorities.
In case the Polish jumpers will be allowed to compete, the FIS Competition Management now plans to cancel Monday's qualification and start the competition on Tuesday with all 62 athletes.
If the Polish teams tests negative, this would be the schedule for Tuesday:
2:30 pm: 1 training round for the Polish jumpers
3:00 pm: Trial round
4:30 pm: Start 1st round with all 62 competitors, no K.O. system
If the new test confirms Muranka's positive test, today's qualification counts and the competition starts as planned at 4:30 pm with the K.O. round.
The test result shall be known by 10 am tomorrow, and the teams will then be informed about the result.
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