Athlete Bios
Ski Jumping
Schlierenzauer youngest ski-jumping champ in 12 years
Last Updated: Friday, February 5, 2010 | 5:17 PM ET
New York Times for CBC Sports
Gregor Schlierenzauer is highly favoured to win gold in Vancouver. (Dieter Nagl/Getty Images)Gregor Schlierenzauer of Austria launched himself in the ski-jumping world with a historic performance in 2008-09, leaving him as the favourite to win gold in Vancouver. Schlierenzauer won a record 13 World Cup events and became the youngest overall champion in 12 years.
He could be the young counterpoint to his Swiss rival Simon Ammann, the boyish 28-year-old who finished second on the World Cup circuit last year and who won the normal hill and the large hill events at the 2002 Salt Lake Games.
Schlierenzauer, like Ammann in 2002, will be 20 when the Olympics arrive. But unlike Ammann eight years ago, he will be expected to win nothing less than gold.
He had a six-event winning streak last season, including two victories at the Olympic venue near Whistler. And while these will be his first Olympics, he will have plenty of help in handling the spotlight. Schlierenzauer is managed by his uncle Markus Prock, a three-time medallist in luge.
Schlierenzauer also represents a power shift for the Austrians, who won three medals at the 2006 Turin Games, including their first Olympic gold since 1992. One of those medals four years ago was the team medal, and the Austrians will be favoured again. But that also means that some of Schlierenzauer's toughest competition could come from his teammates, including Wolfgang Loitzl and Thomas Morgenstern, the defending gold medallist on the large hill.
