Weekend Preview of Ladies' Ski Jumping: Chapter 2: Rasnov (HS100), Romania (February 6th-8th, 2015)

Greetings! Due to a very busy week, the weekend preview will be published only on the blog. I'll try to make a post-race thoughts video on Saturday (today), or Sunday. After this short informational package, let's get to the preview.

The previous weekend in Hinzenbach didn't bring major surprises. Friday saw two practice sessions on the Trambulina Valea Carbunarii hill. Hill record belongs to Eva Pinkelnig. Austrian jumped 101.0 meters on the second training round 6th of February, 2015. Slovenian male jumper, Anze Lanisek, jumped 100.5 meters in 2013. The results of the training rounds give a good source for the preview.

Both of the training rounds were won by the same jumper: Eva Pinkelnig. 26-year-old Austrian jumped on the first training round 96.5 meters, with a compensation of (+1.3/+5.9) from gate 33, collecting 80.2 points. On the second round Pinkelnig set the hill record. 101.0 meters (-2.5/0.0) brought her 79.5 meters. Yuki Ito's good jumps followed her to Romania. 2nd place behind Pinkelnig with 78.0 points, 96.0 meters, (+0.1/+5.9), and 4th on the second round: 95.0 meters (+0.9/0.0) gathering 76.8 points. Sara Takanashi presented two stable jumps finishing third on both of the training rounds: first round 96.5 meters (-1.5/+5.9) total of 77.4, second round 96.5 meters (-1.1/0.0) converting to 77.8 points. World Cup leader Iraschko-Stolz jumped the longest jump of the first training round: 97.0 meters (-3.6/+5.9), 4th place with 76.3 points. On the second round she finished right behind Pinkelnig with 78.4 points, 97.0 meters (-1.5/0.0).

Friday practice brought more promising results to Carina Vogt. Latest World Cup competition winner jumped 94.5 meters (-2.3/+5.9), and 94.0 meters (-2.5/0.0). 6th position of the first round with 72.6, and 5th place on the second round with a score of 71.4 points.

Last season Vogt was relaxing after the Olympic Games, so she didn't participate in the competitions. Both of the competitons were dominated by Takanashi. Japanese jumper won the first competition by 25.6 points ahead of Norwegian Maren Lundby, and Yuki Ito. The second competition Takanashi finished 10.4 points ahead Jessica Jerome, followed by an Italian jumper, Evelyn Insam.

Carina Vogt has finished in six previous competitions in TOP2. She has a great chance to continue her fantastic results: she definetly will be in TOP6, but most likely on the podium, as in Hinzenbach she saved her best jumps for the competitions. Takanashi seems to know the hill very well, so she is a podium contender. World Cup leader Iraschko-Stolz is maybe the biggest candidate for the win, next to Eva Pinkelnig, who has been very impressive this weekend. She was absent from the competitions last season, so she has adapted to the hill quickly. Black horse of the race is Yuki Ito. As the second round is in the progress, My TOP3 guess is: 1. Vogt, 2. Pinkelnig and 3. Iraschko-Stolz. More detailed information on about the first, and all the other rounds on Monday.

That's all for this weekend's preview. It's time to follow the competitions, and hope for great results by Carina Vogt, who jumps with number 38 on Saturday. Enjoy the weekend, check the links, and follow the blog for future posts! :)

Results of the training rounds in Rasnov, Romania (PDF-file), February 6th, 2015
The first competition in Rasnov, previous season (PDF-file), March 1st, 2014
The second competition in Rasnov, previous season (PDF-file), 2nd of March, 2014
Detailed information of the HS100 hill in Rasnov

Weekend Analyses of Ladies' Ski Jumping: Chapter 1.3: Back on the top Hinzenbach

Greetings! This is the final part of Hinzenbach's weekend analyses. Let's get to the final competition:

Sunday, February 1st, 2015 (Qualifying/Trial Round, Competition 2)

Having rested for the last day of the weekend, jumpers kicked things off with a Qualifying/Trial Round, depending on one's World Cup position. Norwegian Maren Lundby took her second Qualification victory: 87.5 meters and 115.2 points (-3.3/0.0). Nita Englund, USA, came second with a score of 111.6 (-2.4/0.0), followed by Coline Mattel, France, 108.5 points (-5.5/0.0). Chiara Hoelzl wasn't on the start list, probably preparing for the Junior World Ski Championships in Almaty, Kazachstan. Eva Pinkelnig was the best jumper among TOP10 with a score of 70.0 (-2.3/0.0) and 90.0 meters. Iraschko-Stolz, 89.0 meters, 68.0 points (-2.6/+4.8) was equal 2nd with Yuki Ito (-4.2/0.0), and Jaqueline Seifriedsberger (-5.9/0.0). Carina Vogt had the worst jump among the TOP10 jumpers: 83.5 meters and 57.0 points (-1.8/+2.4). It seemed like Iraschko-Stolz was heading for her fourth victory in a row.

Clear weather brought better, more equal conditions: wind was from towards the hill: 0.14 m/s to 0.95 m/s. The gate remained unchanged through the whole round, gate 18. Lundby was 14th after the 1st round with a score of 111.0 (-4.0/0.0); equal score with Sarah Hendrickson (-3.0/0.0), and both of them jumped 86.0 meters. The biggest surprise of the 1st round was Englund. She jumped 89.0 meters and scored 118.0 points (-2.0/0.0). Her result was equalized by Spela Rogelj, who jumped 88.0 meters with a compensation (-2.0/0.0). They were 3rd after the first round. Sarah Takanashi jumped after Rogelj: 87.0 meters, and a total of 114.2 (-2.8/0.0) brought her 7th position. Carina Vogt prepared for her jump: highest speed of the round 87.2 km/h (54,195 mph) gave her height and a great distance: Vogt's skis touched the ground at 92.0 meters. She raised her hand up in the air as a sign of a good jump. The judges weren't impressed by her landing, but despite that Vogt made a total score of 123.0 points (-2.0/0.0). World Cup leader Iraschko-Stolz did a good jump, but she didn't take lead after the first round. Austrian jumped 90.5 meters, scored 120.9 (-3.6/0.0), and was within a striking distance. Katja Pozun was disqualified due to an illegal suit. TOP3: 1. Vogt (GER) 123.0, 2. Iraschko-Stolz (AUT) 120.9 and 3. Rogelj (SLO) and Englund (USA) 118.0

After very interesting first round, the atmosphere was rising. Obviously it also happened among the judges, who raised the gate to position 19, and it stayed there, once again. Wind became even more equal in terms of variety, but for some of the jumpers it turned behind the hill: 0.06 from behind to 0.45 towards the hill. There were some clouds on the sky. Julia Kykkaenen gained the most positions on the second round. Finn jumped 86.5 meters, scored 112.9 points (-2.1/0.0), and the 9th jump of the round raised her from 27th to 21st. Lundby and Hendrickson didn't get much difference between themselves. On the second round Lundby scored 110.2 (-1.8/0.0) and Hendrickson's result was 108.2 (-0.8/0.0). Hendrickson dropped to 15th, and Lundby got equal 13th with her team member, Line Jahr. Taylor Henrich from Canada jumped one of the best jumps of the whole competition: 87.5 meters brought her 117.9 (+0.4/0.0) and gathered 231.9 in total. She went from 8th to 5th. Takanashi couldn't improve her position. Takanashi jumped 86.0 meters, and scored 114.1 (-0.4/0.0). She lost two positions to Henrich and Seifriedsberger, but Takanashi's finishing position was 8th, because Katharina Althaus went from 6th to 9th. Yuki Ito was the best Japanese jumper finishing in 4th.

Four best jumpers of the first round were challenged by Ito's high score. Englund had a chance to be on podium, but her second jump was 86.0 meters (-0.9/0.0), and she dropped to 7th place. Slovenian Rogelj didn't crack under the pressure. Second round's 87.5 meters (-2.0/0.0) brought her 117.0 points and she took the lead with a total score of 235.0. Daniela Iraschko-Stolz knew that she needed a good jump to challenge Vogt. She was determined do it and she flew the longest jump of the competition: 92.5 meters, but her landing points were surprisingly low. Austrian scored 123.9 (-2.6/0.0) and she took lead, while Carina Vogt was the only jumper left on the top of the hill. Vogt seemed calm, as she sat on the gate. She pushed herself of the gate, and began to gain speed. Her speed was the highest of the round, 87.6 km/h (54.44 mph), she gained height, but she didn't land as far the Austrian. She crossed the green line, which is a sign, where jumper has to land to take over the lead. Vogt seemed happy, but it was all about waiting, since her jump was 90.0 meters. Her landing was very good and it was noted by the judges. The "position bar" appeared on the right side of the screen, and it got higher and higher... It reached the top! By better landing points, she beat Iraschko-Stolz and took her second victory in her career, and this season! What an incredible competition! TOP3: 1. Vogt (GER) 245.2, 2. Iraschko-Stolz (AUT) 244.8 and 3. Rogelj (SLO) 235.0

Carina Vogt's victorious jump with my (excited) commentary!!!

Carina Vogt gave some interviews after the competition. Here are her comments:

"I'm satisfied and happy. I was three times on the second place. And today, I got it. Yeah, pretty good.
...
 I want to show my good shape in Rasnov too. And then we will see at the end, yeah."

"We had well prepared jumping hill, we had good conditions and had a lot of fun with ski jumping. I'm very happy that I won today. It's a good feeling that I improved from yesterday to today, and got my second World Cup victory ahead of Daniela. She is so strong at the moment, and yeah, good feeling.
...
 I want to show again my best jumps in the competition (Rasnov), and yeah, then we will see."

Carina Vogt's interview for FIS

World Cup standings (8/14):
1. Iraschko-Stolz 622
2. Vogt 568
3. Takanashi 493
4. Rogelj 392
5. Seifriedsberger 283
6. Ito 261

In the conclusion, I may say that it was a fascinating weekend. There were no major surprises in the competitions, and it seems like the TOP2 is leaving others behind quite clearly in the overall standings. Next weekend there will be two very exciting competitions. Last season Vogt didn't go to Romania (Rasnov), so she'll have to adapt to the hill, but it shouldn't be big problem. When someone is in a great shape, then one jumps well on every hill. Thank you very much for reading this post. I hope that you have checked out the previous two texts. Remember to follow, and don't forget the motto of the YouTube channel and this blog: "Sport is the force!"

Post Race Thoughts: Episode 1 (video)
Complete World Cup Standings (PDF-file) February 1st, 2015
The Official Results (PDF-file) February 1st, 2015
Results of 1st Round (PDF-file) February 1st, 2015
Results of Qualifying (PDF-file), February 1st, 2015

Weekend Analyses of Ladies' Ski Jumping: Chapter 1.1: Geting started in Hinzenbach

Greetings! It's the moment for the first chapter of Weekend analyses. The previous weekend (January 30th to February 1st, 2015) we could enjoy great ski jumping competitions from Hinzenbach. Each day saw a different winner. Qualification on Friday was won by Norwegian Maren Lundby, Saturday's competition belonged Austrian, Daniela Iraschko-Stolz, and as a climax, Carina Vogt took her second victory of both - her career and this season. Let's take a closer look, how did the weekend progress.

Friday, January 30th, 2015 (Training rounds and Qualification)

After the previous competition weekend in Oberstdorf, jumpers had arrived in Hinzenbach and were ready to start training. World Cup leader Daniela Iraschko-Stolz contiunued, from where she had finished in Oberstdorf. Austrian topped the lists of both training rounds. Her first jump was impressive: she landed on 92.0 meters, and she beat her closest rival, her team collegue Eva Pinkelnig (90.5 meters) by 5.7 points with an overall score of 73.6 points (compensation: wind/gate -2.8/+2.4). On the second round Iraschko-Stolz jumped 85.5 meters, but she gathered a score of 65.8 (0.0/+4.8) starting two gates lower than Chiara Hoelzl, who finished in second with 87.0 meters 64.7 (+0.7/0.0). Hoelzl was also strong on the first training, as she jumped 89.0 meters from gate 20 with an overall score of 66.0 (-2.0/0.0). Nita Englund from the United States finished equal with Hoelzl on the second training round.

Carina Vogt didn't have much luck on the training rounds with the conditions. On both of her jumps, wind was from behind the hill, and it affected distance. First jump was only 77.5 meters from gate 19, but her overall score 52.6 (+5.2/+2.4) was enough to bring her 20th position. Her second jump was 82.0 meters, and she finished 7th with 62.5 points (+3.7/+4.8).

The last round of the day was qualifying. Norwegian Maren Lundby landed at 91.5 meters and gathered a score total score of 123.9 (-0.6/0.0). It was enough to secure her 1st position of qualifying. The defending World Champion Sarah Hendrickson, from the United States of America, hasn't jump so well since her knee injury from August 2013. Her form hasn't been stable, but during qualification she 88.0 meters and came 2nd with 118.5 points (0.0/0.0). Slovenian Ursa Bogataj came 3rd with 115.9 (1.9/0.0), and after two excellent training jumps Hoelzl took a solid 4th position 0.8 points behind the Slovenian. Surprisingly, seven jumpers didn't participate (some of them were at Winter Universiade), and two were disqualified due to an illegal ski length.

Current TOP10 had a possibility to jump a training jump without watching eyes of the judges. 2015 Winter Universiade Champion Irina Avvakumova (Russia) and Katharina Althaus (Germany) were absent. The highest score of 71.0 (-4.0/+4.8) was made by Spela Rogelj (Slovenia). She jumped 90.5 meters from two gates lower (G18) than all the jumpers before her. Jaqueline Seifriedsberger (Austria) scored 69.0 (-6.1/0.0) with 89.5 meters and Iraschko-Stolz got 68.0 (-2.1/+7.2). Carina Vogt jumped 88.0 meters and came equal 5th among the TOP10 jumpers with 66.0 points (-3.9/+4.8).

So after Friday's jumps, Iraschko-Stolz seemed to be the strongest, with an average margin to her rivals. Chiara Hoelzl would also be a one to watch, but Vogt and other top jumpers shouldn't be forgotten.

Results of Friday training rounds (PDF-file)
Results of qualifying (PDF-file)

Carina Vogt's day! Second victory in her career! Video material!!!

Greetings! Today we had a great day, since Carina Vogt won today's competition in Hinzenbach, Austria!!!

She said that she is satisfied and very happy!

Due to lack of time, Weekend Analyses first chapter will be published tomorrow. Below you may find links to my new videos. Feel free to check them out. :)

Enjoy your day! ;)

Post race thoughts: Episode 1

Carina Vogt's victorious jump!!! February 1st, 2015, Hinzenbach, Austria

Weekend Preview of Ladies' Ski Jumping: Chapter 1, Hinzenbach (HS 94), Austria (30.01.-01.02.2015)

Warm greetings!

This is the first post of this series, which will focus on each Ladies' FIS Ski Jumping World Cup weekend. This time we will focus on Hinzenbach, Austria.

This weekend includes two competitions. Both of them will be jumped at the Normal Hill, which Hill Size is at 94 meters and K-point is at 85 meters. Record of the hill belongs to Markus Eggenhofer, 100.0 meters. Austrian set it in 2011. A year later Daniela Iraschko-Stolz jumped 96.0 meters, which is the official Ladies' hill record.

Currently the World Cup Standings are very interesting:
1. D. Iraschko-Stolz          AUT               442
2. S. Takanashi                  JPN                401
3. C. Vogt                        GER                388
4. S. Rogelj                       SLO                314
5. J. Seifriedsberger          AUT               217
6. I. Avvakumova             RUS                206
7. K. Althaus                    GER                182
8. M. Vtic                         SLO                 178
9. Y. Ito                            JPN                  169
10. E. Pinkelnig               AUT                 163
...
13. S. Hendrickson          USA                 120

The source and full World Cup Standings (might be already updated)

Vogt is currently only 54 points behind the leader, so she has a chance to take the World Cup Leaders' Yellow BIB. I've also added to the list Sarah Hendrickson because she is the current World Champion from Val di Fiemme, February 2013, Italy. In August 2013 Hendrickson suffered an injurie (knee ligament damage). Since then she hasn't been jumping so well, but she might become stronger in the later phase of the season. More information about Sarah Hendrickson

I searched through last season results from Hinzenbach. Both of the competitions were won by Sara Takanashi. In the first competitions Carina Vogt finished 4th and in the second one fifth. Full results can be found via links below:

The first competition Hinzenbach, previous season (01.02.2014)
The second competition in Hinzenbach, previous season (02.02.2014)

Recently Vogt has jumped incredibly. During the last three competitions she has finished in TOP2. On the 18th of January in 2015, Vogt took her first World Cup victory in her career. The competition was forced to be decreased to only one round, but win is always a win.
            The previous weekend in Oberstdorf, Vogt came second in both of the competitions, which were won by Iraschko-Stolz. The latter one was tight because Vogt lost it only by 0.6 points!!

Carina Vogt's first World Cup victory!!! Zao (18.01.2015)
The first competition in Oberstdorf, this season (24.01.2015)
The second competition in Oberstdorf, this season (25.01.2015)

Today ladies jumped training and qualifying in Hinzenbach. The winner of the qualification is Maren Lundby, Norwegian is followed by Sarah Hendrickson and Ursa Bogataj. After the qualification TOP10 jumpers had a chance to jump a training jump. Here are the results of that training round:

Number         Jumper           Nation        Speed        Gate       Distance       Compensation           Points
                                                                                                                      Wind/Gate
    43          E. Pinkelnig        AUT         87.1 km/h    20             85.5 m      0.29 (-1.7 p)                61.0
    44              Y. Ito               JPN          87.0 km/h    20             88.0 m      0.12 (-0.7 p)                66.0
    45              M. Vtic           SLO          87.2 km/h    20             88.5 m      0.56 (-3.2 p)                67.0
    46          K. Althaus          GER          DNS
    47        I. Avvakumova     RUS          DNS (At the Universiades)
    48      J. Seifriedsberger   AUT          87.2 km/h    20             89.5 m      1.06 (-6.1 p)                 69.0
    49          S. Rogelj            SLO           86.7 km/h    18             90.5 m      0.69 (-3.9 p)/(+4.8 p)   71.0
    50            C. Vogt            GER          87.5 km/h   18             88.0 m      0.68 (-3.8 p)/(+4.8 p)  66.0
    51         S. Takanashi        JPN           86.4 km/h    18             86.5 m      0.36 (-2.1 p)/(+4.8 p)   63.0
    52     D. Iraschko-Stolz    AUT          86.7 km/h    17             89.0 m      0.36 (-2.1 p)/(+7.2 p)   68.0

Full results of qualification (PDF-file) (30.01.2015)

During the previous training rounds Vogt's jumps weren't convincing 77.5 meters (20.) and 82.0 meters (7.).

I think that Carina has the potential to be on podium and in the best scenario she will win a competition or two. Her main rivals will be probably Takanashi and Iraschko-Stolz (winner of both of the training rounds), who finished two times second the previous season in Hinzenbach. Also Chiara Hoelzl, another Austrian seems to be in great shape, as she finished in the first training 3rd (89.0 meters) and 2nd in the second round (87.0 meters)

All in all, we have two very interesting competitions ahead of us. Leave a comment, where you may tell your expectations for the weekend, and I would like to read your comments about the blog, in which ways I could imporve it. Have a nice time of the day, whenever you read this, and hopefully you'll be able to read about Vogt's success in the next posts! Bye!

Weekend Preview of Ladies' Ski Jumping Episode 1 (YouTube)