Disappointment for two skiing hopes

There was disappointment on Thursday for two of Switzerland’s top skiers, ski jumper Simon Amman and downhill skier Silvan Zurbriggen.

Amman failed to make good his vow to win the Four Hills tournament, which ended on Thursday.

He came second, 30.4 points behind the winner, Thomas Morgenstern of Austria.

Of the four events, held in Germany and Austria, Amman won only one, the second in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where the windy conditions limited competitors to one jump.

Ahead of the first event Amman, a four-time Olympic gold medallist, had told journalists his main aim was success in the Four Hills, since it is the only major title he has not won.

But he was magnanimous about Morgenstern’s performance, calling it “sensational”.

Morgenstern currently has an impressive lead at the top of the World Cup rankings for the discipline. Amman is in third place, 342 points behind. Another Austria, Andreas Kofler, is second.

Zurbriggen suffered his first major setback of the season, when he failed to win any points in the nocturnal slalom in Zagreb.

However, he is still in second place in the overall World Cup ranking, 14 points  behind Michael Walchhofer of Austria. Walchhofer was not competing in the race.

The winner was Andre Myhrer of Sweden, who currently heads the World Cup slalom rankings.

Meanwhile, the Swiss skier Patrick Küng, a downhill and Super G specialist, suffered concussion when he fell during training in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, near Salzburg, on Thursday. He was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.