ski jumping

Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi Wins Gold in Men's Individual Normal Hill Ski Jumping Event

Kobayashi grabbed Japan its first ski jumping gold medal since 1974

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Ryoyu Kobayashi of Japan earned his first career Olympic gold medal, coming in first in the men's individual normal hill ski jumping event.

The 25-year-old used a tremendous first-round score of 145.4 to propel himself to the podium. He registered a score of 129.6 in the final round, finishing with 275.0 total points.

It's the second gold medal for Japan in ski jumping history and the country's first since 1972.

Kobayashi was the last ski jumper to go in the final round, knocking Austria's Manuel Fettner down to a silver medal with 270.8 total points. Poland's Dawid Kubacki won bronze with 265.9.

The United States did not have a ski jumper in the final round of the men's individual normal hill competition, as Casey Larson, Kevin Bickner, Decker Dean and Patrick Gasienica finished outside of the top 30 ski jumpers in the qualifying round of the ski jumping event.

Larson posted the best score out of the four Americans with his jump of 96.5 meters leading to a score of 113.2. That placed him 39th in the round. Bickner ended the round in 43rd, Dean was 44th and Gasienica was 49th out of the 50 competitors.

The U.S. have not medaled in a ski jumping event since 1924.

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