Schlierenzauer wins Lillehammer large hill

Austrian Gregor Schlierenzauer claimed his first victory of the new ski jumping season on Sunday when he won the large hill discipline at Lillehammer, Norway. The 22-year-old celebrated his 41st world cup win with jumps of 141 and 137 meters. It made up for a poor showing on Saturday in the season opening normal hill where he came home in eighth position. Anders Fannemel gave the Lillehammer crowd something to cheer about with the runners up spot. The 21-year-old, who at the start of 2012 posted the second-longest flying ski jump in the world at 244.5 meters, started off with a leap of 140. A second jump of 134 metres was good enough for second spot. Thomas Morgenstern made sure of a second podium placing for the Austrians when he took third, a day after claiming the runners up spot in the normal hill. Morgenstern jumped 135 and 134 metres for the last spot on the podium, but he does now occupy top spot in the overall world cup standings after two events so far. He’s eight points clear of Schlierenzauer and 20 in front of Fannemel ahead of the third stop in Kuusamo, Finland on 1 December.