February 08, 2012
|
Changes could affect jumpersHAKUBA, Japan (AP) -- The International Ski Federation is considering limits on the length of jumping skis that could handicap shorter athletes.Harald Aarhus of Norway, the chairman of the Nordic combined committee in the FIS, said the proposal is aimed at allowing "normal and grown up" jumpers to win, "not just very young and thin." Under the proposal, the maximum length of jumping skis would be 146 percent of a jumper's height. The present rules allow skis that are up to 31 1/2 inches longer than a jumper's height, with a ceiling of 110 inches. Harada's golden redemptionHAKUBA, Japan (AP) -- The shame of Lillehammer -- it had almost become Masahiko Harada's nickname.Failing to hit even a mediocre ski jump at the 1994 Olympics, a failure that cost his team the gold, was a moment that had defined Harada's life for the past four years. Now he was atop an Olympic ski jump again -- this one at Japan's first Winter Games in 26 years, in front of 50,000 noisy, expectant countrymen. Japan clinches team goldHAKUBA, Japan (AP) -- Takanobu Okabe and Masahiko Harada soared to the longest jumps in Olympic history as Japan finally captured the team ski jumping gold it had failed to win four years ago in Lillehammer.It was the eighth medal of the Nagano Games for Japan, the nation's biggest haul at a Winter Games. Okabe, Harada post record jumpsHAKUBA, Japan (AP) -- Had the nightmare returned? Gold medal on the line, and Masahiko Harada flops again?Not this time. He had a second chance and he grabbed it, uncorking a record-breaking jump and helping Japan to a historic first. MORE HEADLINES Archive of Olympic Ski Jumping Stories |