Freund wins his 7th ski jumping World Cup of the season

TRONDHEIM, Norway (AP) Severin Freund of Germany won his seventh ski jumping World Cup of the season on Thursday and moved into the overall lead with four events left.

Freund jumped 135 and 139 meters on the large hill for 265.3 points, 10.2 more than second-place Peter Prevc of Slovenia.

Stefan Kraft was unlucky when a footlock opened up mid-air in the second round, when the Austrian sat on a substantial 11.8-point lead. He avoided a fall in a scary moment, but placed ninth.

He also dropped from the overall lead to third, 46 points behind Freund. Prevc, who lost the overall lead on Tuesday when he was 17th in Kuopio, was second, 34 behind.

''This is not the right style to win, you don't want to do it when an opponent loses a clip in the air, but Stefan managed to land on both feet, which was an incredible feat,'' Freund said.

''I got the yellow jersey this way by chance. Now I have it, and the race will stay tight until Sunday, and then the end in Planica.''

There are two large hill events in Oslo this weekend, followed next week by the last two of the season in Planica, Slovenia, where Prevc is regarded as the favorite.

Austria's Michael Hayboeck set a new hill record in Trondheim of 143 meters in his first jump.