I've still got magic touch, says Ammann
Few have touched the heights in more spectacular - and unexpected - fashion than Swiss skijump star Simon Ammann.
But don't think for a minute that two Olympic golds mean the 28-year-old, who started his Olympic career aged just 16, has lost his appetite.
The man they dubbed "Harry Potter" after his magical exploits in winning his pair of titles at the Salt Lake Games in 2002 may be approaching the veteran stage.
But looking ahead to the Vancouver Games the man from Grabs says he's ready to roll, buoyed by five World Cup wins this season to top the overall standings.
"I'll be out there looking to do myself justice to the very best of my ability," said Ammann Wednesday after a first training session at Whistler Olympic Park ahead of Friday's competition.
"There's still room for improvement - but it was a good day of training."
Given that he finished well out of contention on both the normal and the large hill four years ago in Turin one might think that would boost the morale of main Austrian rival Gregor Schlierenzauer, who is out to emulate the Swiss in winning the Olympic crown at the age of 20.
Schlierenzauer has already notched 32 World Cup wins - an astonishing feat considering the 36 of Finnish legend Janne Ahonen have been spread over 18 years.
But Ammann says memories of Turin have been consigned to the dustbin.
Salt Lake is, needless to say, different.
"I still have the pictures in my head," said Ammann. "Things didn't go as well as they might have done in Turin - but I'm not thinking about that.
"I like to remember more the memories from Salt Lake," where he emulated Finnish legend Matti Nykanen's 1988 achievement in Calgary of landing double individual gold.
Four years ago, as the defending champion, things were different.
"I was much too tense. I couldn't get all the power on the take off and the aerodymamics were some of the worst in my career," he reminisced.
But his recent form gives him cause for optimism.
"I don't have to think about expectations now because I'm the World Cup leader."
That came as a surprise to one reporter who greeted Ammann with an innocent question as to whether these were his first Olympics.
"He just carried on with his question - it was okay," laughed Ammann, whose recognition in his homeland is such that he beat Roger Federer to the punch in winning the Swiss sportsman of the year accolade in 2002.
Schlierenzauer and fellow Austrian hopes, Four Hills winner and 2006 large hill silver medalist Andreas Kofler and also Thomas Morgenstern, will push Ammann close.
So, too, could German veteran Martin Schmitt, whose 104m in training saw him beaten only by Ammann's and Morgenstern's 106.5m.
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I've still got magic touch, says Ammann
