UTAH OLYMPIC PARK ? A quartet of athletes claimed Olympic gold medals in Monday's K120 ski jumping team competition and ? surprise ? not one even slightly resembled Harry Potter.
Before Monday, the ski jumps at Utah Olympic Park were the personal playground of Switzerland's Simon Ammann ? an affable Harry look-alike who shocked ski jump fans by sweeping the individual K90 and K120 events.
Ammann again jumped well Monday, but his German neighbors found gold.
Germany secured the four-man team title over second-place Finland in a battle decided by a single point. Slovenia was the surprise bronze medalist, edging out medal favorite Austria. The young American team finished 11th in the 13-team event.
"I know we are lucky today (to have) won ? but frankly, whether you win by one point or 10 points, the win is what matters," said Germany's Michael Uhrmann.
The gold medal outcome was not settled until Germany's final jumper, Martin Schmitt, landed a relatively pedestrian jump that was still long and clean enough to seize the top spot on the podium for his country. The points awarded to each jump are a combination of distance and judges' marks measuring technical elements such as flight and landing.
"Everyone on our team has been jumping very well, but the Germans are very good, too," said Finnish jumper Risto Jussilainen. "After a competition like this, the silver medal is good."
Monday was especially sweet for the Slovenian jumpers, who claimed their nation's first medal of the 2002 Games.
"This is from my dreams," said Slovenia's Robert Kranjec, who competed in a "minor league" Continental Cup event at Utah Olympic Park just months ago.
Ammann, meanwhile, landed long jumps of 128.5 and 130 meters ? but admits he was not anticipating a ski jumping three-peat.
"We came in realistic, we knew it would be hard to get a medal," said Ammann, who arrived here from his home village of Unterwasser as a ski jumper ? and returns to Switzerland a national hero.
"The people at home are so excited, I don't know what's waiting there for me," he added.
Monday's team jumping event was all about experience for Team USA. Alaskan Alan Alborn bounced back a bit from a disappointing K120 individual performance, landing jumps Monday of 120.5 and 120 meters. America's premier ski jumper will decide in the coming months if he'll retire from the sport or take a shot at the 2006 Games.
"It depends on how the rest of the (World Cup) season goes," Alborn said, adding the response from sponsors will also be factored.
Colorado's Tommy Schwall, 17, is enthused about America's ski jumping's future.
The 2002 Games have offered "good experience to use for the next Olympics ? there are bigger competitions to come," he said.
E-MAIL: jswensen@desnews.com