'Best day of my life': Raimund soars to German Olympic ski jump gold / Photo: Javier SORIANO - AFP
'Best day of my life': Raimund soars to German Olympic ski jump gold
Unheralded German Philipp Raimund soared to an unexpected ski jumping gold at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Monday and declared it "the best day of my life".
In a thrilling normal hill individual competition in which the lead changed hands with virtually every one of the last few jumps, 25-year-old Raimund grabbed the title despite never having won a World Cup event in his career.
His score of 274.1 points defeated Kacper Tomasiak of Poland, another unfancied jumper who scored 270.7 points.
Ren Nikaido upheld Japan's proud Olympic record in this event by sharing the bronze medal with Gregor Deschwanden of Switzerland, both on 266 points.
Japan's reigning Olympic champion Ryoyu Kobayashi was unable to repeat his winning performance from the 2022 Beijing Games and finished eighth.
Raimund crouched down and roared with pleasure as he landed his final-round jump.
"It feels absolutely amazing. It is the biggest achievement of my life, the best day of my life so far," the German said.
He said despite his low-key profile, he had learned to deal with the pressure from competing in the Four Hills Tournament in his homeland -- "that's the biggest thing there is".
"I know there's a lot of pressure from the media and outside, but my coach, the whole staff, my girlfriend... they were taking all that off my shoulders so I could just concentrate on myself," he said.
A.Fallone--PV
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