Philipp Raimund wins gold in thrilling normal hill ski jump at Milan Cortina Winter Olympics

PREDAZZO, Italy (AP) - Philipp Raimund of Germany led two other Olympic rookies and a veteran of the Games who never reached the podium past a field of former medalists and world champions to win gold in the men's normal hill ski jump at the Milan Cortina Winter Games on Monday.

With a best jump of 106.5 meters and 274.1 points, Raimund beat Kacper Tomasiak of Poland, who won silver, and Ren Nikaido of Japan who tied with Gregor Deschwanden of Switzerland for the bronze in a thrilling event that came down to the last jump.

Raimund was ranked sixth in the world coming into his first Olympics, with his best result a fourth place in the world championships in the team event and one win in the World Cup circuit.

After the first round, Raimund was in first, Valentin Foubert of France was second and Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal of Norway was third.

But Nikaido then landed at 106.5 meters in his final jump, pumping his fist at the result, followed by Deschwanden and Tomasiak who both reached 107 meters.

Foubert and Sundal could not beat those jumps.

Raimund, who was jumping last, needed a big jump and delivered, earning high points for his style.

Deschwanden was the only veteran of the four, competing in his fourth Olympics. His best result was eighth in large hill team event in 2022 in Beijing and sixth in the same event at the 2023 world championships.

The four beat out a field including defending champion Ryoyu Kobayashi of Japan, the reigning world champion Marius Lindvik of Norway, two-time Olympic gold medalist Andreas Wellinger and Kamil Stoch, Poland's most successful ski jumper who owns three Olympic gold medals.

They also beat Domen Prevc, from a powerhouse Slovenian family of decorated ski jumpers, who entered the event as defending world champion on the large hill and the top-ranked skier in the World Cup this season.

Prevc is trying to join his sister, Nika, in becoming the first brother-sister pair to medal in ski jumping at the same Olympics.

Nika Prevc, a defending world champion on both hills and World Cup leader this season, took the silver medal Saturday in the women's normal hill competition.

The normal hill is not Domen Prevc's strength, though he landed his best jump on his final attempt at 105 meters and ended up in sixth place. He is likely to join his sister in the mixed team event Tuesday.