Norway's Tande sets ski jump record, leads team to win
KUOPIO, Finland (AP) Daniel Andre Tande eclipsed the 1998 record for a ski jump on Puijo hill in eastern Finland and spearheaded Norway to only its second World Cup team victory in 11 years on Monday.
Tande landed after 136 meters as the second jumper of four. He maintained the high standard with 132 meters in the second jump.
The previous record, 135.5 meters, was set by Japan's Masahiko Harada in 1998.
Norway amassed 1,057.2 points with the team of Kenneth Gangnes, Tande, Anders Fannemel, and Johann Andre Forfang.
Germany was second at 1,002.8 points, and Japan third on 935.4.
All eight of Norway's jumps were high class. Tande's 136-meter record jump was scored low in style, but the second of 132 meters was rewarded for its style. After his first jump, the starting gates were lowered and the chances of another record were diminished.
Tande scored 276.4, Forfang 267.1, Fannemel 262.7, and Gangnes 251.0. Gangnes was third overall in the ski jumping, Forfang fifth, Tande seventh, and Fannemel 10th.
Germany, which won the first two of the season's team events, was second with Andreas Wank, Richard Freitag, Andreas Wellinger and Severin Freund.
Japan clinched its podium finish when 43-year-old Noriaki Kasai jumped 125 meters on the team's last attempts to hold off Austria by 3.3 points.
Japan's starting man, Taku Takeuchi, led in the second round with 132.5 meters. He has lived for long spells in Finland, and in Kuopio, and speaks Finnish fluently. Unlike most jumpers, who dislike the Puijo hill for the shape of its takeoff zone, Takeuchi speaks well of it.
''I like this hill very much, and it is my home hill,'' he said.
The event on Monday was moved on short notice from Lahti, where it was cancelled on Saturday. On Tuesday, Puijo hosts an individual competition, where the favorite will be World Cup leader Peter Prevc of Slovenia. He jumped 133.5 and 129.5 meters, and his 139.5 and 139.4 points were the best among all last jumpers on the nine teams.
