Four Hills cut short amid wind

Nine athletes, including Four Hills tournament favorites, were still waiting for their final jump when the jury decided to cancel the second and final round of Saturday's competition.

"The conditions were constantly deteriorating," said the International Ski Federation's race director Walter Hofer when explaining the jury's decision to call off the event before all jumpers had the opportunity to complete the round.

The fierce winds meant judges had to count the first round of competition as the final result.

This enabled Anssi Koivuranta, an Olympic bronze medallist, to take his first world cup podium and win the ski jumping thanks to his first-round victory.

Jumping 132.5 meters (434 feet) the Finn earned 127.5 points. Switzerland's Simon Ammann, the winner of the first event, jumped one meter further but with a helpful tailwind, thus earning 126.3 points. Polish jumper Kamil Stoch, currently the overall World Cup leader, scored 126.2 points for a jump of 126.5 meters.

Saturday's results make little difference to the overall leaderboard of the Four Hills competition, 21-year-old Austrian Thomas Diethart retains the lead in only his sixth World Cup event.

German jumpers well adrift

Diethart finished fifth in Saturday's shortened round, but remains in pole position to for the overall victory with 716.1 points in total. He rose to the top of the leader board at the second stage in Garmisch-Patenkirchen.

Ammann has moved into second place, 9.4 points adrift of Diethart and 6 points clear of 2011 Four Hills winner Thomas Morgenstern of Austria in third.

Germany's Andreas Wellinger and Severin Freund are placed seventh and eighth respectively in the overall standings.

Following the cancellation of the event, Morgenstern expressed his bewilderment at the jury's decision not to call the event off sooner: "The wind difference to the other top jumpers was two meters per second. I don't understand why no attempt was made to ensure everyone had to compete under the same conditions."

Morgenstern's views were echoed by Austria's head coach Alexander Pointner, who described the situation as unfair to the athletes and said it was unfortunate that such a high-profile competition was affected.

The third round of the Four Hills tournament was in doubt before jumping started on Saturday morning after weather forecasts predicted winds of up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour. As well as having an effect on the jumps, such conditions can be dangerous for the competitors.

The final round saw Russia's Denis Kornilov crash after slipping when he landed.

The tournament now heads to Bischofshofen in Austria for the fourth, and final, leg. The qualifying round will take place on Sunday, with the final set to take place on Monday - weather permitting.

jlw/msh (AFP, AP, dpa, SID)