KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia – Kamil Stoch of Poland showed today why he’s a strong gold medal favourite in ski jumping at the Sochi Olympics.
Under blue, sunny skies, Stoch had two firsts and a second-place finish in three training runs for Sunday night’s individual normal hill final.
Gregor Schlierenzaur of Austria, who won bronze in both the normal and large hills at Vancouver, was second in the third training jump.
Olympic gold medallist Simon Amman tied for sixth.
Calgary’s Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes was ranked 26th after the three training runs.
Matthew Rowley of Red Deer, Alberta was 37th, Calgary’s Dusty Korek placed 47th and Calgary’s Trevor Morrice was ranked 50th.
The men return to the normal hill Saturday evening for qualifying, with the top 10-ranked World Cup jumpers guaranteed a spot in the 50-man Sunday final.
There will be two rounds in the final, with 30 advancing for a chance for medals in the second round.
