Normal Hill, Individual, Men

The star of the Salt Lake City Olympics was a 20-year-old Swiss called Simon Ammann, who had seemingly come from nowhere to win both Olympic title in a stunning upset. The years after his triumph were barren and it was not until after his unsuccessful defence of those gold medals in Torino that he began to show the form he had displayed in 2002 with any great consistency. By the start of the 2010 Games Ammann was in a rich vein of form and had already collected five World Cup victories in the season to date. His rivals for the top space on the Olympic podium included the veteran four-time world champion from Poland, Adam Małysz, the returning Janne Ahonen and any member of the powerful Austrian quartet.

Ammann, jumping last of the 51 competitors in the first round, flew out to the 105 metre mark in the opening round then waited in the drizzle as his rivals almost all improved their distances in the second round. With the final jump of the competition he floated away to set a new hill record at 108 metres and regain the title he had won in 2002. Behind him were Małysz in second and Austria’s Gregor Schlierenzauer in third. Janne Ahonen’s attempt to win a medal at his fifth Olympics was thwarted by a mere handful of points. This was the first event of the Vancouver Olympics to be completed.