Austria's Schlierenzauer jumps to another win

Gregor Schlierenzauer of Austria followed up his victory in the first leg of the Four Hills Tour ski jumping competition by winning the second on Sunday.

Schlierenzauer put himself firmly in contention to repeat his success at Oberstdorf on Friday when he cleared 138 meters with his first jump. The 20-year-old's second, of 134 meters, was enough for 274.5 points overall.

"I must be honest — it wasn't the best jump from me," Schlierenzauer said. "But it's unbelievable. A super day for me."

Another Austrian, Andreas Kofler, finished second with jumps of 130.5 and 137.5 meters for 270.4 points.

Daiki Ito posted jumps of 138.5 and 141.5 but a poor landing on the second jump meant he finished third on 269.6.

Ito, still winless on the World Cup circuit, had 269.6 for his sixth career podium finish and first since Dec. 9, when he was runnerup to Schlierenzauer.

Taku Takeuchi shared fourth with Kamil Stoch of Poland on 268.0 points, while Noriaki Kasai was 29th.

Germany's Severin Freund finished a disappointing day for the hosts by finishing seventh.

Schlierenzauer said he wasn't thinking of the 1 million Swiss Franc prize on offer should he make it a clean sweep of wins on the Four Hills Tour.

"It's not in my head, but of course it would be the icing on the cake," he said.

Kofler still leads the World Cup standings after nine of 27 events, with Schlierenzauer in second.

The next stop on the tour, which is part of the World Cup circuit, is at Innsbruck, Austria on Wednesday.

OBERSTDORF GERMANY — Petter Northug of Norway edged defending champion Dario Cologna of Switzerland to win a 10-km classic-style and 10K freestyle skiathlon in the Tour de Ski cross-country series Sunday, with compatriot Marit Bjoergen claiming the women's event.

World and Olympic champion Northug claimed a sprint finish to win in 50 minutes, 27.3 seconds, 0.3 seconds ahead of Cologna, with Russia's Maxim Vylegzhanin third, 0.6 seconds back.

After four of nine events, Northug leads by only 1.1 seconds overall from Cologna.

Bjoergen later produced a strong finish to claim the women's race, a 5K classic-style and 5K freestyle event, in 27 minutes and 16 seconds, coming from behind to finish 1.6 seconds ahead of Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk with Norway's Therese Johaug a further 0.2 seconds back.

"It means a lot to me to win," Bjoergen said.

Kowalczyk remains the overall leader after four races, 26.6 seconds ahead of Bjoergen.

The next races in the grueling Tour de Ski series staged over 11 days take place in Toblach, Italy, on Tuesday.

"Everything can happen in Toblach," Northug said. "If there's a big group working together, it can easily be four or five athletes fighting for the victory."

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