Ski Jumping at the 2010 Winter Olympics

Eight years earlier in Salt Lake City, a bespectacled Harry Potter lookalike from Switzerland had caused an enormous upset by winning both individual ski jumping titles. In the following years Simon Ammann struggled to prove that these victories were anything that could be replicated. Finally, in 2007, he began to establish himself once more as a major player in the sport by winning the World Championships on the large hill and became a regular winner on the World Cup tour.
Ammann’s performance in Vancouver could not be faulted and he recorded the longest distance on all four jumps as he repeated his feat of 2002 by winning on both the normal and large hills. Alongside him on the Olympic podium in both events were two other of the pre-Games favourites Adam Małysz, the quadruple world champion from Poland, and Gregor Schlierenzauer, the star of the Austrian team. Since Switzerland did not qualify for the team competition it was not possible for Ammann to win another gold in that event.

The sheer depth of strength of Austrian jumping was apparent as they claimed the team title by a huge distance. Their winning margin of 72 points was only 5 points less than the margin between the runner-up team and the team that placed last in the final round.