Germans Schmitt and Hannawald pull out of U.S. skijumps to rest

The German double world champion and defending World Cup holder Schmitt was ordered by his coach Reinhard Hess to rest and test new equipment at an undisclosed location. Schmitt's compatriot Sven Hannawald, sixth in the overall standings, will also miss the jumps at the site of next year's Olympics to rest and do some testing.

"Things have become so close at the top of the World Cup that even small changes in equipment and jumping techniques could be crucial," said Hess, who will instead send Georg Spaeth and Frank Reichel to Salt Lake City. Schmitt and Hannawald are expected to return for next week's jumps in Japan - January 24 in Hakuba and January 27-28 in Sapporo. Schmitt leads the overall standings with 596 points after nine of 29 events, but Malysz has won four straight jumps to close to within 57 points.

(la/dpa)