Today’s first training session for men’s ski jumping at the RusSki Gorki Jumping Center did not go without incident.
Norwegian jumper Anders Jacobsen, who claimed a bronze in the 2013 world championships, fell hard upon landing on Thursday and needed to be helped off the normal hill by medical officials (pictured). Health has been an issue for Jacobsen in recent times, as he tore his ACL last March in a crash during the final World Cup event of 2012-2013; he returned to competition in December.
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The night-time session played out under the lights to simulate conditions for Sunday’s normal hill final. The large hill final takes place on Feb. 15 and the team large hill final is on Feb. 17. Nick Alexander of the U.S. was the first in the 68-competitor field to make a training jump according to the Associated Press.
Also notable in today’s training was the presence of three-time Olympic gold medalist Thomas Morgenstern of Austria. Morgenstern suffered head injuries in a Jan. 10 training accident, but completed a practice jump today at RusSki with no problems. Per Reuters, he did not speak to reporters afterwards.
More training is in store for Friday, with normal hill qualifying to take place on Saturday.
