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OBERSTDORF, Germany (AP) — The opening event of the Four Hills tour was postponed Sunday after strong winds and heavy snowfall forced organizers to call off the first leg of the ski jump World Cup's traditional holiday-season tournament.
After repeated delays to the start, only 11 jumps were completed before officials called off the event with no sign of conditions improving. It will now be held Monday afternoon instead.
"I'm relieved about the decision. There was no sense in continuing. You could have just thrown a dice. It was the right decision for sport," German team coach Werner Schuster said.
Of those who did complete a jump, Germany's Marinus Kraus only narrowly avoided crashing after being caught by the wind.
"I waited for over an hour up there," Kraus told ARD television. "The jury kept putting it back by 15 minutes, that's pure horror for us. I'm going to bed now. There's no way I'll jump again today."
Adverse conditions had already forced the cancellation of the practice session.
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