Domen Prevc earns gold for Slovenia in rainy large hill competition

PREDAZZO, Italy -- Slovenia's Domen Prevc lived up to his billing as favorite to claim gold in the men's large hill ski jumping event at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Saturday, with Japan's Ren Nikaido taking silver and Poland's Kacper Tomasiak securing bronze.

Prevc was second after the first round, behind Nikaido, but turned the contest on its head in the final, soaring 141.5 meters to finish 6.8 points ahead of the Japanese jumper, drawing wild cheers from the large Slovenian contingent in the Predazzo Stadium in Val di Fiemme.

The first individual victory of his Olympic career completed a redemption arc for the 26-year-old, who opened the Games with a sixth-placed finish in the normal hill event, then led Slovenia to a mixed team gold alongside his sister Nika.

"I have this privilege to do really good under pressure," Prevc, who sits top of the World Cup standings, told Reuters.

"I was just enjoying this, remembering why you started to do this and just fly as hard as possible."

For Nikaido, the silver medal left a bitter taste after he won bronze in the normal hill.

"I am a bit disappointed that I could not win the gold medal," he said, adding that he was upset with himself that he could not manage a bigger jump in the final round.

In wet conditions, ski jumpers were wary of their suits becoming waterlogged, prompting a series of countermeasures as a mix of rain and snow fell at the top of the hill.

Germany's Philipp Raimund, who won gold in the men's normal hill individual competition, finished ninth. Daniel Tschofenig of Austria got only one round of the competition as he was disqualified because his boots were four millimeters too long, with an FIS official saying it had been an oversight.

--Reuters, special to Field Level Media