Ski jumping-Norway's Stroem wins second gold in women's large hill individual event

PREDAZZO, Italy, Feb 15 - Norway's Anna Odine Stroem won her second gold of the Milano Cortina Olympics in the women's large hill individual ski jumping competition on Sunday, while compatriot Eirin Maria Kvandal took silver following a dominant performance by the Scandinavian country.

Slovenia's Nika Prevc, who had been seen as a gold-medal favourite, claimed the bronze in the final women's ski jumping event of the Olympics.

Norway has commanded the women's ski jumping events at these Games, after Stroem clinched gold in the normal hill individual competition. She was also part of a quartet that took silver in the mixed team event.

Sunday's competition marked the first time women have participated in a large hill ski jumping event at a Winter Olympics.

"It's been an incredible week, and I'm really happy. It's been so tough and we worked very hard for this, the entire team, and we got an amazing result today," Stroem said.

Norway, which has won the most gold medals of these Olympics so far, held the top four spots on the leaderboard after the first round of jumps. Prevc soared back into medal position after finishing fifth in the early round, while Stroem edged ahead of Kvandal to win by 2.1 points in a competitive second round.

The bronze was Prevc's third medal of the Games, which have overall fallen short of expectations for the 20-year-old jumper. She won silver in the normal hill event and took gold alongside her brother Domen in the mixed team competition.

"I struggled a lot with the pressure this weekend," Prevc told Reuters, saying she was planning to go home to rest and relax.

The competition posed some challenges for jumpers, with Josie Johnson of the United States sitting out the second round due to an injury and Canada’s Nicole Maurer sliding on her backside at the end of her second jump. Officials warned before the competition that the wind might be variable, though most of those participating said conditions were more stable than anticipated. REUTERS