Profiling the Flying Ladies: File 1.3 (her story continues) Carina Vogt: The beginning of World Cup Career, podium, World Championships medal!

Greetings!

It's the third part of Carina Vogt's profile. We'll take a look at her World Cup career in seasons 2011/2012 and 2012/2013, and her debut in the World Championships. I wish you enjoyable reading!





2011/2012 Season:

Unlike in the previous season, Vogt competed during the summer season. On 13th of August, 2011, Vogt finished in 24th, and the next day she achieved her best result in the Summer Continental Cup, as she finished in 12th. Both of the competitions were held in Bischofsgruen, Germany. Three days later, on 18th of August, she participated in a FIS Cup race, in Poehla, Germany. In the results, Vogt was ranked in 11th. 19th and 20th of August, she spent jumping in Oberwiesenthal, Germany. In two Continental Cup competitions, she was 30th and 26th.
   Carina continued her season in winter, which she started on 9th of December, in Notodden Norway. In the first Continental Cup competition, she jumped only once, as she finished in 35th. The next day she was already 25th.
   Less than a month later, Vogt made her World Cup debut in Hinterzarten, Germany. She jumped with a number 3. She landed at 80.0 meters (wind compensation +1.1 points / gate compensation 0.0 p) and scored 79.1 points; 8.6 points separated her from her first World Cup points. Competition lasted only for a round, and it was surprisingly won by Swiss Sabrina Windmueller. Third Ladies' World Cup competition in history was also held in Hinterzarten. Carina jumped with number 2. She flew 90.5 meters (-2.9/0.0) and gathered 97.1 points, and she led the competition until jumper number 10. She waited, and in the results of the first round, Vogt was 26th. On the second round she didn't succeed in a similar way, as a jump of 84.0 meters (-5.5/0.0) dropped her from 26th to 30th, with a total score of 176.6 points, 1.7 points from 29th. On 8th of January, 2012, Carina Vogt achieved her first ever World Cup point.
   Her best result of the season in World Cup competition was achieved on 4th of February. She was preparing for her third World Cup race in Hinzenbach, Austria on HS94 hill. Vogt prepared for her jump: she got the signal, and accelerated to speed of 85.0 km/h (52.828 mph), launched herself into the air, and her skis touched the ground at 84.0 meters (-2.2/0.0) and she scored 108.3 points. She had number 13, and she took the current lead by 7.3 points. After 20, 30 and even 40 jumps, Vogt was still leading. Ulrike Graessler flew 88.5 meters (-4.9/0.0) and got 112.6 points, which meant that jumper 41 was able to beat Vogt, who dropped to current third after Anette Sagen's 88.5 meters (-9.7/0.0). Katja Pozun dropped Carina from podium positions, as Slovenian jumped 90.5 meters (-9.6/0.0). Daniela Iraschko got lucky with the conditions; Austrian flew 96.0 meters (-10.2/0.0) at 1.67 m/s wind from towards. It got Iraschko total score of 123.3 points. World Cup leader, Sarah Hendrickson, prepared as a number 48. Her coach decided to play it safe, and drop the gate from position 13 to 11. Hendrickson started her jump with +4.8 points, which meant that she had to jump around 94.0 meters in similar conditions as Iraschko. Hendrickson flew 91.5 meters (-9.7/+4.8), but her points in style made it tighter. Hendrickson took second place after the first round, only 0.7 points behind Iraschko. Apparently, wind got stronger, which made second round impossible, and the results of the first round became official. TOP10: 1. Iraschko AUT 123.3 points , 2. Hendrickson USA 122.6 p, 3. Pozun SLO 114.4 p, 4. Graessler GER 112.6, 5. Sagen NOR 110.8, 6. Vogt GER 108.3, 7. Van USA 106.1, 8. Rogelj SLO 105.8, 9.Wuerth GER 105.6, 10. Vtic SLO 104.2. Vogt must have been very happy with the results.
   The next day in Hinzenbach, she finished in 13th. Next two competitions were held a week later in Ljubno, Slovenia, where the German finished in 27th and 19th. Then she had a pause, to prepare for the FIS Junior Ski World Championships.
   On 23rd of February, 2012, in Erzurum, Turkey, ladies jumped for the medals. Wind and gate factors weren't used in the competition, even though the wind changed quite a bit: from 0.2 m/s from behind up to even 1.2 m/s towards on the first round. On the second round it altered between 0.5 m/s from behind to 1.8 m/s towards! Vogt probably didn't even worry about it much. With number 39, she gained the best speed of the round, 90.9 km/h (56.495 mph), launched herself into the air, and landed at 102.5 meters. With 131.0 points, Vogt took current 2nd, only one point behind Coline Mattel, who had jumped 103.0 meters with number 38. Hendrickson took the lead, as she flew 105.0 meters and got 137.0 points. Her result was equaled in points by Sara Takanashi, even though the Japanese jumper jumped 108.5 meters. After the first round, Vogt was 4th, only one point from medal and six points from the gold. On the second round, Italian Evelyn Insam flew 101.0 meters, and set pressure for the remaining for jumpers. Vogt was the first jumper giving her answer. Once again top speed, 90.2 km/s (56.060 mph), good height, and her flight ended at 100.0 meters. She had 6.0 points gap over Insam, and 100.0 meters was enough. Vogt scored 255.5 points in total. Mattel had jump 100.0 meters to beat the German, but French jumper failed by jumping 93.0 meters, and gathering 241.0 points. Carina Vogt was a medalist, but the leaders decided the color. Hendrickson did a good jump. She took the lead, but 100.5 meters seemed a bit too short for the gold. Takanashi proved that, as Japanese jumper landed at 107.5 meters, and took the Junior World Championship. TOP6: 1. Sara Takanashi JPN 276.5 points, 2. Sarah Hendrickson USA 265.0, 3. Carina Vogt GER 255.5 p, 4. Evelyn Insam ITA 251.5 p, 5. Spela Rogelj SLO 250.0 p, 6. Coline Mattel FRA 241.0 p. Carina Vogt took her first ever Junior World Championships medal in her fourth and final attempt. It must have been a nice and relieving medal. It wasn't over yet, as two days later, Carina Vogt got silver Ramona Straub, Svenja Wuerth and Katharina Althaus, in ladies' team event. Gold went to Japan by 119.5 points! Germans finished 25.0 points ahead of Slovenians, who took bronze medals. Two medals in her final Junior World Championships; great job, Carina!

Individual podium from the left: Carina Vogt, Sara Takanashi and Sarah Hendrickson. Erzurum, Turkey, 23rd of February, 2012.

Podium from team event, from the left: Slovenia, Japan and Germany. Erzurum, Turkey, 25th of February, 2012.

     Ladies' World Cup season's final three competitions for Vogt, were held in Zao, Japan. She finished in 25th, 23rd and 26th. Due to those finishing positions, she wasn't chosen for the World Cup finale in Oslo. In the first ever edition of Ladies' World Cup, Carina Vogt was 27th in the overall cup with 96 points, after participating in 9 of 13 competitions. World Cup was won by Sarah Hendrickson, who gathered 1169 points. 2nd place for Iraschko with 779 points, and 3rd for Takanashi with 639 points. In Continental Cup, Vogt was ranked 66th with 6 points, by jumping in 2 of 7 competitions.
  For the first time in her career, Carina succeeded better in FIS Junior Ski World Championships than in the overall cups. It came across as she got the highest peak of the shape at the most important moment. That feature would be very crucial for the future. She could look forward with optimism.

2012/2013 Season:

Vogt had a very nice summer season. For the first time arranged summer Grand Prix, she concluded in 4th with 154 points! She started competitions with 6th place in Courchevel, France. Two days later, on 17th of August, 2012, Vogt took her first ever podium in Grand Prix competition. On the first round she flew on Hinterzarten's HS108 hill 97.5 meters (+0.7/0.0), and she was 2nd with 119.2 points. On the second round Takanashi succeeded by jumping 99.5 meters (+1.9/0.0), which helped her to overtake Jacqueline Seifriedsberger. TOP2 were remaining; Vogt flew 96.5 meters (+2.2/0.0), and got 237.9 points in total, which gave her current 2nd. Daniela Iraschko was in her own class, as Austrian flew 99.0 meters (+2.5/0.0), and on the second round 103.0 meters (+0.9/0.0). TOP6: 1. Iraschko AUT 259.4 points, 2. Takanashi JPN 239.9 p, 3. Vogt GER 237.9 p, 4. Seifriedsberger AUT 235.0 p, 5. Iwabuchi JPN 230.2 p, 6. Pozun SLO 230.0 p. The next day, Germany finished in third in mixed team event. Their squad was Graessler, Vogt, Richard Freitag and Andreas Wank. Germans scored 967.2 points. Austrians won with 1026.9 points, followed by Japan, 1000.8 points. In two competitions in Almaty, Vogt was 7th and 14th. In the overall standings, she lost podium by 26 points. She seemed to be well prepared for the winter.

Podium in Hinterzarten, Germany, Grand Prix competition, from the left: Takanashi, Iraschko, Vogt. 17th of August, 2012.

Vogt began winter season with a mixed team event, which wasn't Vogt's best competition, as she jumped 68.0 meters (+4.9/0.0) and 82.0 meters (+1.3/0.0) from Lillerhammer's HS100 hill. Despite her difficult jumps, Germany finished in 4th, 24.3 points from podium. The next, she was like a whole different jumper: on the first round, Vogt flew 100.0 meters (-1.7/0.0), but even though the second longest jump of the round, she was 8th after the first round due to her worse points from style. In comparison, Insam jumped 103.0 meters (-4.6/0.0), and was fourth after the first round. Sarah Hendrickson was leading with a jump of 98.5 meters (-3.5/+4.8), 6.0 points ahead of Vogt. On the second round, Carina Vogt landed at 99.5 meters (0.0/-4.8), longest jump of the round, and gathered 256.0 points. 7th, 6th, 5th and 4th jumpers after the first round couldn't beat her. Takanashi flew 98.0 meters (+1.3/0.0), and took the lead by 9.2 points. Anette Sagen jumped 97.0 meters (+0.8/-4.8) and Norwegian took current 2nd. Hendrickson's coach decided to drop the starting gate for the jumper from the United States. Gamble didn't work out perfectly, as Hendrickson landed at 95.0 meters (+1.1/0.0), and got 261.4 points in total. TOP6: 1. Takanashi JPN 265.2 points, 2. Hendrickson USA 261.4 p, 3. Sagen NOR 258.9 p, 4. Vogt GER 256.0 p, 5. Insam ITA 255.3 p, 6. Iraschko AUT 250.8 p. Great competition for Carina after the mixed team event.
   The next two competitions were held in Sochi, Russia.So called pre-Olympic competitions went quite well from Vogt, who was 8th and 5th. A week later, in Ramsau, Austria, she took 10th place.  Less than a month later, in Schonach, she took positions 8 and 12. Vogt concluded German 'tournee' with two 9th places in Hinterzarten. Two of four Japanese World Cup competitions were held in Sapporo. In the first one she was 20th, but in the second one back in TOP10, finishing in 9th.
   The first competition in Zao, turned out to be a happy one for Carina Vogt. On the first round, current TOP4 jumpers were in their own league. Vogt began the group by landing at 89.0 meters (-2.9/0.0) and scoring 107.6 points. Seifriedsberger flew 88.0 meters (-2.0/0.0), and took current 2nd with 105.0 points. Hendrickson didn't beat Vogt either. Hendrickson jumped 88.0 meters (-1.3/0.0), but was only 0.4 points behind the German. Takanashi took the things to her own level with a bit of luck; 95.5 meters (-8.8/0.0), and total score 114.2 points gave her 6.6 points' lead. On the second round, Seifriedsberger had luck with winds, as she flew 92.5 meters (-8,5/0.0). Wind got lighter for Hendrickson, who landed at 85.0 meters (-3.3/0.0). Wind almost stopped for Vogt, who jumped 85.0 meters (-1.5/0.0) as well. She took current 2nd. Like magic, wind got stronger for Takanashi, who flew 93.5 meters (-6.2/0.0) and took the win. The most important fact was that Carina Vogt took her first ever World Cup podium, excellent job from her! TOP5: 1. Takanashi JPN 228.0 p, 2. Seifriedsberger AUT 212.0 p, 3. Vogt GER 207.1 p, 4. Hendrickson USA 205.4 p, 5. Jerome USA 197.5 p. On the second day, Vogt finished in fourth on her 21st birthday. Two solid jumps of 92.0 meters (-8.4/0.0) and 91.0 meters (-10.9/0.0) brought her 212.2 points in total, 10.4 points from podium.




























Podium of the first World Cup competition in Zao, Japan, from the left: Seifriedsberger, Takanashi, Vogt. 9th of February, 2013.

Next time Vogt competed for the first time in her career in the World Championships, which were held in Val di Fiemme. On 22nd of February, 2013, gaining good speed was problematic, which forced the jury to raise the starting position from 21 to 23 after 28 jumpers. Carina Vogt flew 99.5 meters (-2.2/-6.2) on the first round, and took the current lead with 115.6 points. She was overtaken by Seifriedsberger, who jumped 104.0 meters (-3.6/-6.2). Mattel landed between them with a jump of 102.0 meters (-5.1/-6.2). Hendrickson flew on the HS line; 106.0 meters (-5.4/-6.2), got 127.4 points and took the lead from Seifriedsberger by 8.7 points. Takanashi couldn't take the lead, as she jumped 104.5 meters (-1.7/-6.2) and achieved 124.1 points. On the second round, Jessica Jerome threw a slight challenge by flying 98.0 meters (-4.9/0.0). Vogt topped the speed rankings with 88.7 km/h (55.127 mph), launched herself into the air, and landed at 96.0 meters (-5.7/0.0). The points from style were very important, and 1.5 points more from style helped Vogt to steal the lead by 0.5 points! Mattel jumped 95.5 meters (-5.2/0.0), but her advantage after the first round was enough to take current 1st. Seifriedsberger was the first jumper to secure her medal: 98.5 meters (-1.5/0.0) and total score of 237,2 points gave her the lead. TOP2 was yet to jump. Takanashi flew 103.0 meters (-3.1/0.0) and gathered 251.0 points. Hendrickson couldn't jump much less. Her skis touched the ground at 103.0 meters (-6.7/0.0). Jumper from the United States of America got 253.7 points, and won the World Championship. TOP6: 1. Sarah Hendrickson USA 253.7 p, 2. Sara Takanashi JPN 251.0 p, 3. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger AUT 237.2 p, 4. Coline Mattel FRA 229.5 p, 5. Carina Vogt GER 225.4 p, 6. Jessica Jerome USA 224.9 p.
   Solid 5th place was a good debut for Carina Vogt, but she didn't have to leave the Championships empty handed. February 24th, 2013, first ever mixed team event at World Championships was organized. Vogt was in the team, and she thanked for that by jumping 95.5 meters (+6.2/0.0) and 98.0 meters (+2.1/0.0) and gathering 239.8 points in total. Japan won the competition with 1011.0 points, Austria was 2nd with 986.7 points, followed by Germany (Graessler, Freitag, Vogt, Freund), who got 984.9 points. 5th and bronze: great World Championships debut for Vogt!


























Bronze team from the left: Freund, Graessler, Vogt, Freitag.

Two World Cup competitions were waiting for female jumpers after the World Championships. Both of them were held in Norway. The first one in Trondheim, Vogt finished in 10th. The last competition was the first one for ladies, which was organized on a large hill. It took place in Oslo at HS134 Holmenkollbakken. On the first round, Vogt flew 124.0 meters (-12.5/0.0), and was 7th with 108.2 points. On the second round, Mattel went from 8th to 4th with a flight of 124.0 meters (-6.0/0.0). Vogt concluded her World Cup season by jumping 122.5 meters (-4.6/0.0) and her total score of 216.1 was enough for current 2nd. Seifriedsberger took the lead from French jumper, as Austrian flew 125.5 meters (+0.4/0.0) and scored 233.9 points. Katja Pozun and Lindsey Van couldn't cross the K-points' 120.0 meters' line, and they didn't beat competition's current TOP3. Runggaldier dropped Vogt from podium, because Italian jumped 116.5 meters (-2.6/0.0), and acheived 217.4 points in total. Takanashi destroyed Seifriedsberger from the lead, as she landed at 133.5 meters (-3.9/0.0) and beat Austrian by 26.9 points! Hendrickson remained unbeatable, as she won the World Championships, competition in Trondheim and also the finale. Hendrickson's skis touched the ground at 129.0 meters (-1.2/0.0) and brought her 130.5 points, which meant 262.8 points in total. TOP6: 1. Hendrickson USA 262.8 p, 2. Takanashi JPN 260.8 p, 3. Seifriedsberger AUT 233.9 p, 4. Mattel FRA 221.5 p, 5. Runggaldier ITA 217.4 p, 6. Vogt GER 216.1 p.
   Very nice final competition. In the overall standings, Vogt was 7th with 481 points, 18 points from 6th.World Cup belonged to Takanashi, who collected 1297 points, followed by Hendrickson with 1047. Third place for Mattel, who got 823 points. Vogt participated 12 of 14 competitions. Her season was great: first World Cup podium, first World Championships medal, and TOP10 finish in overall World Cup. She was looking forward to the future seasons.

This has been the third part. Due to very action-packed 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 seasons', I have to make one more part that it wouldn't make too much reading for one post. Hopefully you enjoyed it, and remain patient. Enjoy your day, remember to follow to see the fourth part, where we'll also take a look at the future!

Links (sources and social media):

Carina Vogt, basic information
The previous part of Carina Vogt's story
Picture of Carina Vogt used in the beginning
Wikipedia article about Carina Vogt (German)
Individual podium from FIS Junior World Championships 2012, Erzurum, Turkey
Team podium from FIS Junior World Championships, 2012, Erzurum, Turkey
Podium from summer Grand Prix, 2012, Hinterzarten, Germany
Podium from World Cup, 2013, Zao, Japan
Bronze team from mixed team event World Championships, 2013, Val die Fiemme, Italy
Carina Vogt's fan page on Facebook
Carina Vogt's profile on fis-ski.com

Weekend Analyses of Ladies' Ski Jumping, Championship Edition: Mixed Team Event - Second time, new winner - new analysis!!!

Greetings!

Unfortunately I didn't have much time to do this during the World Championships, so I decided to postpone this one to the time when the 2014/2015 season will be over. This also a good chance to see, how the new FLENAA-team analyses system works.

Perhaps the biggest item of news was announced even before the competition started. German' coaches, Werner Schuster and Andi Bauer decided that Carina Vogt, Richard Freitag and Severin Freund will be joined by Katharina Althaus. Juliane Seyfarth didn't agree with the choice, and 25-year-old German was frustrated. Seyfarth finished in the individual event 14th, whereas Althaus was ranked 17th. On the other hand, Althaus did impressive work on the training rounds before ladies' individual event, which was one of the factors for the outcome. Other surprise was announced by Czech Republic, as Roman Koudelka wasn't in the team's squad, probably focusing already for the large hill event.

The squads in the numeral order:

1   Italy:   Elena Runggaldier, Sebastian Colloredo, Evelyn Insam, Davide Bresadola
2   France:   Lea Lemare, Ronan Lamy Chappuis, Julia Clair, Vincent Descombes Sevoie
3   Finland:   Julia Kykkaenen, Jarkko Maeaetae, Susanna Forsstroem, Janne Ahonen
4   Russia:   Irina Avvakumova, Ilmir Hazetdinov, Sofia Tikhonova, Mikhail Maksimmochkin
5   United States of America:   Nita Englund, Nicholas Alexander, Sarah Hendrickson, William Rhoads
6   Czech Republic:   Michaela Dolezelova, Viktor Polasek, Barbora Blazkova, Jan Matura
7   Japan:   Sara Takanashi, Noriaki Kasai, Yuki Ito, Taku Takeuchi
8   Norway:   Line Jahr, Anders Bardal, Maren Lundby, Rune Velta
9   Slovenia:   Maja Vtic, Nejd Dezman, Spela Rogelj, Peter Prevc
10   Germany:   Carina Vogt, Richard Freitag, Katharina Althaus, Severin Freund
11   Austria:   Daniela Iraschko-Stolz, Michael Hayboeck, Jacqueline Seifriedsberger, Stefan Kraft

First notable fact is that the first group of the ladies is the stronger one judging by the individual competition: World Champion, bronze medalist, 4th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 19th, 23rd, 29th, 30th, 32nd were in the first group. In the third group jumped: silver medalist, 6th, 7th, 10th, 15th, 17th, 20th, 21st, 33rd, 39th and 40th.
   Training round was cancelled after the first group, which meant that assumption had to be based on the individual competitions. In ladies, Germany had 1st and 17th, Japan 2nd and 4th, Austria 3rd and 7th, Slovenia 10th and 13th, and Norway 15th and 19th. In men, Norway had 1st and 6th, Germany 2nd and 7th, Austria 3rd and 21st, Japan 5th and 35th and Slovenia 13th and 20th. The strongest candidates for the medal were Germans, Japan and Austria, but they could challenged by Norwegians and Slovenians.

FIS Ski World Championships, Mixed Team Event (22nd of February, 2015)

First round:

First round was held under cloudy skies, and the wind was towards the jumpers through the whole round. First group had already jumped during the cancelled trial round, the rest was a bit of mistery.

First group [Gate 23, Wind towards: 0.97 m/s (-6.2 points) to 2.08 m/s (-13.3 p)] :

First jump of the competition was performed by Elena Runggaldier. Italian jumped 84.0 meters (-11.4/0.0), and scored 85.6 points. Lea Lemare was the first French jumper: 82.5 meters (-7.5/0.0), and 87.0 points. Julia Kykkaenen's was important for Finland. Kykkaenen had to jump very well, so the team would have a good advantage over the teams competing against them: Kykkaenen flew 86.0 meters (-6.2/0.0), and got 96.8 points, which was enough for 8th place, last qualifying position for the second round. Irina Avvakumova took the current lead with a jump of 88.0 meters (-7.9/0.0), and total score of 99.1. Nita Englund was the first jumper to cross 90.0 meters. Englund landed at 94.0 meters (-10.7/0.0) and scored 107.3 points. According to the wind data, Michaela Dolezelova had the best conditions: she didn't capitalize it, as Czech jumper jumped 85.0 meters (-13.3/0.0). Sara Takanashi was 4th in the second important event in a row. The first jumper of the defending champions flew 96.5 meters (-11.9/0.0), and she took the lead from Englund by 4.8 points. Line Jahr was 19th in the individual competition, but Norwegian surprised everyone: 93.5 meters (-9.4/0.0) and 108.1 points brought 4th after the first group. Maja Vtic didn't do as good as Jahr: Slovenian jumped 88.5 meters (-10.3/0.0), and scored 97.7 points. World Champion from the individual event, Carina Vogt, did a good job by flying 93.5 meters (-11.3/0.0) and scoring 108.7 points. Her launch for the jump was a bit early, which didn't give Vogt longer distance. Daniela Iraschko-Stolz landed at 95.5 meters (-7.9/0.0), and scored 113.6 points. After the first group, TOP6 was: 1. Austria 113.6 points, 2. Japan 112.1 p, 3. Germany 108.7 p, 4. Norway 108.1 p, 5. United States of America 107.3 p, 6. Russia 99.1 p.

Second group [Gate 12, Wind towards: 0.45 m/s (-2.9 p) to 1.37 m/s (-8.8 p)] :

In the second group, Richard Freitag performed the best jump: 93.5 meters (-7.0/0.0), and a score of 115.0 points allowed Germans to take the lead. Anders Bardal got closest to Freitag, as Norwegian scored 111.8 points with a jump of 92.5 meters (-7.2/0.0). Noriaki Kasai kept Japanese jumpers in the World Championship fight by jumping 90.0 meters (-6.7/0.0) and scoring 105.8 points. Austrians' competition got more difficult after Michael Hayboeck's jump: he landed as early 83.0 meters (-2.9/0.0) and he scored 93.6 points, be had the worst conditions of the group. After two groups, the order of TOP6 was: 1. Germany 223.7 p, 2. Norway 219.9 p, 3. Japan 217.9 p, 4. Austria 207.2 p, 5. Slovenia 201.3 p, 6. United States of America 194.0 p.

Third group [Gate 25, Wind towards: 0.59 m/s (-3.8 p) to 2.04 m/s (-13.1 p)] :

Evelyn Insam started the second group of ladies by jumping 86.0 meters (-8.3/0.0) and scoring 94.7 points didn't help Italians as much as they hoped. Julia Clair flew 88.0 meters (-8.4/0.0) and got 100.1 points. Susanna Forsstroem couldn't help Finland, as 19-year-old jumper tried her best by flying 76.5 meters (-6.9/0.0) and scoring 72.1 points, which dropped Finland from the fight for second round. Sofia Tikhonova jumped 87.0 meters (-4.6/0.0) and got 99.9 points. Sarah Hendrickson celebrated enthusiastically after her jump: 98.5 meters (-4.2/0.0), new official ladies' hill record, and the score of 120.8 points was the best one of the whole group. Barbora Blazkova did what she could, but Czech's jump of 80.5 meters (-5.5/0.0) beat only Forsstroem's score in the group. Silver medalisr from the individual competition, Yuki Ito got the lowest minus points from wind compensation, and her jump didn't impress either: 88.5 meters (-3.8/0.0), and Ito's 101.7 points were 'only' 6th best. Maren Lundby didn't finish in TOP10 in the individual competition, but Norwegian's score of 116.4 points were 2nd best in the group: 95.0 meters (-7.1/0.0) helped to decrease the gap to Germans. Spela Rogelj flew 90.5 meters (-5.4/0.0) and scored 108.1 points. Katharina Althaus had quite a high set bar after Lundby's jump: German landed at 91.0 meters (-7.2/0.0), but Althaus' 107.3 points meant that Germans had to hand their lead to Norwegians. The third group ended with another excellent as jump, as Jacqueline Seifriedsberger flew 96.5 meters (-13.1/0.0), assisted by the strongest wind according to the computers, and Austrian was the third best jumper by collecting 109.9. TOP6 after 3 groups: 1. Norway 336.3 p, 2. Germany 331.0 p, 3. Japan 319.6 p, 4. Austria 317.1 p, 5. United States of America 314.8 p, 6. Slovenia 309.4 p.

Fourth group [Gate 13, Wind towards: 0.61 m/s (-3.9 p) to 1.47 m/s (-9.4 p)] :

Davide Bresadola's 91.5 meters (-9.0/0.0) was a pleasant surprise, but couldn't assist Italians to the second round. TOP3 teams after the first three groups gave the strongest performances: Germany's Severin Freund landed at 97.0 meters (-8.3/0.0), new men's official hill record and he topped the scores with 122.2 points. Rune Velta wasn't so far, as the men's normal hill champion flew 95.0 meters (-7.6/0.0), and collected 119.4 points, which was enough to keep Norwegians in the lead. Taku Takeuchi got only 4.0 points less than Freund, 118.2 points by jumping 95.0 meters (-6.3/0.0). Second round wasn't for Italians, Finns and jumpers from Czech Republic. Here are the results after the first round, not qualified are in underlined: 1. Norway 455.7 p, 2. Germany 453.2 p, 3. Japan 437.8 p, 4. Austria 428.7 p, 5. Slovenia 427.3 p, 6. United States of America 395.5 p, 7. France 387.8 p, 8. Russia 382.2 p, 9. Italy 374.5 p, 10. Finland 369.5 p, 11. Czech Republic 351.2 p. United States of America qualified for the second round, which was to me a slight surprise, but even bigger was to see French jumpers in TOP8. I thought that Italians could have finished higher.

Mixed Team Event, detailed 1st round results, World Championships, Falun, Sweden, 2015

Second round:

Clouds remained on the skies above Lugnet's Ski Jumping Center, as the second was about to begin. The jumping order for the round was: France, Russia, United States of America, Japan, Norway, Slovenia, Germany and Austria. Some of the jumpers had to cope with a slight wind from behind.

First group [Gate 25, Wind towards: 0.39 m/s (-2.5 p) to 0.88 m/s (-5.6 p)] :

Lea Lemare started the second round by flying 83.0 meters (-4.9/0.0). Irina Avvakumova crossed 90.0 meters with a jump of 91.5 meters (-5.6/0.0) and Russian's score of 108.9 points was 4th best of the group. Nita Englund got the worst condition, and her flight ended at 87.5 meters (-2.5/0.0). Japanese hoped for a good jump from Takanashi, which could get Japan a lot closer to TOP2. Takanashi flew 93.0 meters (-3.3/0.0), but she topped the group's ranking with 114.2 points. Jahr didn't amazing job on the first round, and once again she performed very well: Norwegian landed at 90.5 meters (-5.6/0.0) and scored 107.9 points. Vtic couldn't cope with the hill so well, as Slovenian's second jump came down at 85.5 meters (-3.1/0.0) and gave her 98.4 points, which practically threw Slovenians out of the medal competition. Vogt had to overtake Norwegians: Vogt topped the speed rankings with 85.9 km/h (53.387 mph), launched herself into the air, and her skies touched the ground at 92.0 meters (-3.3/0.0). Vogt's score of 112.7 was 3rd best, and it was enough to return Germans to the lead, even though Carina's launch seemed to begin a bit too late. Iraschko-Stolz perfomed second good jump by landing at 92.5 meters (-5.6/0.0) and scoring 112.9 points. TOP6: 1. Germany 565.9 p, 2. Norway 563.6 p, 3. Japan 552.0 p, 4. Austria 541.6 p, 5. Slovenia 525.6 p, 6. United States of the America 497.5 p.

Second group [Gate 14, Wind: 0.10 m/s from behind (+0.8 p) to 1.10 m/s (-7.0 p)] :

Austrians dropped out of the medal contention even more, as Hayboeck landed at 87.5 (-5.8/0.0) and got only 101.7 points. TOP3 kept being strong: Richard Freitag kept Germans in the lead by flying 92.0 meters (-3.8/0.0) and gathering 115.7 points. Anders Bardal kept the fight tight, as Norwegian got 110.6 points thanks to a jump of 89.5 meters (-1.4/0.0). Noriaki Kasai jumped 88.5 meters (-2.1/0.0) and scored 107.4 points. Nejc Dezman was in the competition the only jumper, who got positive points from wind compensation, and the conditions forced him to land at 86.5 meters (+0.8/0.0). The most dramatic jump of the competition belonged to Nicholas Alexander: jumper from the United States of America was probably surprised by the conditions, as he got the highest minus points in the group from the wind, and Alexander improved by 8.0 meters from the first round, and he landed at 90.5 meters (-7.0/0.0), but unfortunately his uncontrolled landing lead to a terribly looking fall. He couldn't stand up, and the competition was stopped for five minutes. Alexander was taken to hospital, and doctor's analysis confirmed a knee injury, which required a surgery. Unluck of United States' male jumpers kept increasing as only a bit over a month earlier Nicholas Fairall landed in the hospital after his fall in Bischoshofen due to issues with his spinal cord. Fairall's treatment has been funded by other jumpers, such as the German team's victory money from Zakopane's team event, double Olympic Chapion from Sochi Kamil Stoch and Olympic Champion from Sapporo Wojciech Fortuna. Get well, Nicholas Fairall and Alexander! TOP6: 1. Germany 671.6 p, 2. Norway 664.2 p, 3. Japan 659.4 p, 4. Austria 643.3 p, 5. Slovenia 630.4 p, 6. Russia 586.6 p.

Third group [Gate 26, Wind towards: 0.20 m/s (-1.3 p) to 1.53 m/s (-9.8 p)] :

Clair begun the third group of the round by jumping 86.5 meters (-5.1/0.0). Tikhonova flew 89.0 meters (-1.3/0.0) and got 106.2 points. Hendrickson wanted to decrease the gap to Russians after Alexander's unlucky jump: Hendrickson landed at 94.0 meters (-2.7/0.0) and topped the scores with 115.8 points. Ito performed a bit better on the second round with a jump of 90.5 meters (-3.9/0.0) and score of 110.1 points. Lundby was in a tough situation: she had to decrease the gap to Germans so Velta would have better chances to challenge Freund. Lunby flew 91.5 meters (-1.5/0.0) and got 115.5 points. Rogelj jumped 92.5 meters (-3.8/0.0). Althaus had to answer Lundby's jump: the German got the a bit lucky with the conditions, and she carried her flight to 92.5 meters (-9.8/0.0), scoring 108.7 points, but Norwegians decreased the gap. Seifriedsberger concluded the group with a jump of 90.0 meters (-2.0/0.0). TOP8: 1. Germany 790.3 p, 2. Norway 789.7 p, 3. Japan 769.5 p, 4. Austria 749.8 p, 5. Slovenia 745.7 p, 6. United States of America 697.8 p, 7. Russia 692.8 p, 8. 675.9 p

Fourth group [Gate 15, Wind towards: 0.13 m/s (-0.8 p) to 0.78 m/s (-5.0 p)] :

The start order for the final group was: France, Russia, United States of America, Slovenia, Austria, Japan, Norway and Germany. TOP2 teams were separated by 0.6 points, which was exactly the same amount as after Carina Vogt's and Line Jahr's first jumps; just incredible, and what an exciting battle was coming between Freund and Velta, TOP2 in men's individual event!

Descombes Sevoie jumped 85.0 meters (-2.2/0.0). Maksimochkin flew 86.5 meters (-5.0/0.0), and it was enough to beat the United States of America because William Rhoads landed as early as 83.0 meters (-3.5/0.0). Peter Prevc challenged Austrians by jumping 94.5 meters (-0.8/0.0), but Stefan Kraft's 95.0 meters (-4.8/0.0) were enough to keep Austrians 4th. Takeuchi secured 3rd position for Japan by flying 93.5 meters (-3.2/0.0). Rune Velta prepared for his jump, got into the air and landed at 95.5 meters (-2.1/0.0), which gave him 125.9 points and Norwegian team 915.6 points in total. Velta kept his hands up in the air after his jump the same way as the evening before, when he won the individual goal on the same hill. It was all down to Severin Freund. German pushed himself of the starting bench, launched himself into the air, and his skies touched the ground at 96.0 meters (-2.4/0.0). Freund wasn't sure after his jump, whether it was enough. Everyone was waiting, and waiting. After the calculating came to its end, next to the team Germany appeared... Number 1! Carina Vogt became the first ever double female World Champion in the same World Championships. Germans were shouting, jumping, hugging, relieved, happy and emotional after the results were announced. Anders Bardal's disappointment was seen from his face. He and his team had lost the gold medal by 2.3 points, a bit over one meter.

Results of the Mixed Team Event, FIS Ski World Championships, Falun, February 22nd, 2015:

1. Gemany (Carina Vogt, Richard Freitag, Katharina Althaus, Severin Freund)   917.9 points
2. Norway (Line Jahr, Anders Bardal, Maren Lundby, Rune Velta)   915.6 p
3. Japan (Sara Takanashi, Noriaki Kasai, Yuki Ito, Taku Takeuchi)   888.3 p
4. Austria (Iraschko-Stolz, Hayboeck, Seifriedsberger, Kraft)   869.5 p
5. Slovenia (Vtic, Dezman, Rogelj, Prevc)   868.4 p
6. Russia (Avvakumova, Hazetdinov, Tikhonova, Maksimochkin)   791.8 p
7. United States of America (Englund, Alexander, Hendrickson, Rhoads)   789.3 p
8. France (Lemare, Lamy Chappuis, Clair, Descombes Sevoie)   773.2 p
9. Italy (Runggaldier, Colloredo, Insam, Bresadola)   374.5 p
10. Finland (Kykkaenen, Maeaettae, Forsstroem, Ahonen)   369.5 p
11. Czech Republic (Dolezelova, Polasek, Blazkova, Matura)   351.2 p

Mixed Team Event, Official Results, World Championships, Falun, Sweden, 2015

Competition was extremely exciting, interesting, and remarkable. Carina Vogt made once again history in ladies' ski jumping, new team achieved the world championship title, and Norway got on podium as a new team. This competition was surely one of the highlights during the World Championships in Falun.

Mixed Team Event all time medals ranking:
1. Germany   1  -   1
1. Japan   1  -  1
3. Austria   -  1  -
3. Norway   -  1  -

Short FLENAA analysis: Jumper of the day among FLENAA was Sarah Hendrickson, who succeeded on both rounds incredibly. She topped her group in the rankings. Carina Vogt did good job, but I expected from her a bit more, as she was third best in her group, behind Iraschko-Stolz and Takanashi, but the most important thing is that her jumps helped the team achieve the result. I was a bit skeptical after Germans had announced that Althaus would be the jumper beside Vogt to participate in the mixed team event. After the first round it didn't look good, but on the second round Althaus was a bit lucky with the conditions, but she really did pull a good jump, when it was necessary. Sofia Tikhonova did two solid jumps, and her competition went as expected. Julia Kykkaenen did decent job on the first round, but her team couldn't qualify for the second round. Maja Vtic didn't show anything special, which was a slight disappointment to me. Below you may see a sort of a performance table:

Jumper                                            ++      +     +/-     -     --                               total:
Carina Vogt                                   0        1       0      0     0                                  +
Maja Vtic                                       0        0       0      1     0                                   -
Sarah Hendrickson                       1        0       0      0     0                                 ++
Katharina Althaus                        0        1       0      0     0                                   +
Sofia Tikhonova                            0        0       1      0     0                                  +/-
Julia Kykkaenen                           0        0       1      0     0                                  +/-

For the next season, I'll do this sort of a performance ranking, but besides that I'll create a ranking with points, which will decide, who gets the first ever FLENAA-trophy, but that's a thing, which may be used during the Grand Prix season.

All in all, I'd really like to thank you for reading this post, and the support, which really motivates, 15 followers is quite good. The next post will be the first episode of the new series: Profiling the Flying Ladies. Carina Vogt will be represented in the first post. Hopefully, you'll enjoy your day, and click the Follow-button! :)

Resan till Falun 2015 - Trip to Falun 2015: Part 3: Val di Fiemme's light snowfall brings no surprises

Greetings! We move on to the third part of our trip in time. As we are less than 24 hours away from the grand finale, let's take a look at World Championship events from two years ago, Italian Val di Fiemme.

Ladies' ski jumping appeared in the program of FIS Ski World Championships for the third time. The biggest item of news was that Daniela Iraschko couldn't participate in the World Championships. Austrian injured her knee previous month in Hinterzarten, Germany. It lead into a situation, in which the defending World Champion was out of the game even before the World Ski Championships had even started. Romania joined as a new country in ladies' ski jumping World Championships, since Dana Vasilica Haralambie participated in the competition. It's also important to notice that these World Championships were first appearance for Carina Vogt on this level's competitions.

Thursday, 21st of February, 2013, Val di Fiemme (Training rounds + qualification)

Unfortunately results of the training rounds are once again not understandable, so I'll have to rely on my thoughts presented results. Carina Vogt seems to had finished on one training round. Second trainings best points were signed for another German, Ulrike Graessler. Third round's assumed winner is Sarah Hendrickson with the longest jump of the day, 101.0 meters (+10.3/0.0). Coline Mattel was ranked 2nd, 2nd and 3rd. Also Jacqueline Seifriedsberger, and Sara Takanashi have been mentioned in TOP3.
Training results (PDF-file), first version, 21st of February, 2013, Val di Fiemme
Training results (PDF-file), second version, 21st of February, 2013, Val di Fiemme
Training results (PDF-file), third version, 21st of February, 2013, Val di Fiemme

First ever ladies' qualifying session was planned for the evening, but to me for an unknown reason that session was cancelled. It must have been either low amount of participants (45 on the start lists, 40 jumpers into the competition), or tricky conditions. As a result, jumpers had a chance to make an alternative training, or just relax before the important day.

Friday, 22nd of February, 2013, Val di Fiemme (Trial round + World Championship finale)

Start list of the competition suffered a loss of two jumpers. as 43 women appeared for the trial round. Under cloudy sky, and wind towards the hill between 0.09 m/s and 2.33 m/s forced jury to change the gate a couple of times during the round. First fourteen jumps were performed from gate 17. Best jumper among them was Ulrike Graessler. German finished 11th, with total score of 31.3 and her jump's distance was 83.5 meters (-5.7/0.0). Next fourteen jumpers were allowed to start two gates higher, from gate 19. Silver medalist from Oslo, Elena Runggaldier's 92.5 meters (-8.5/-6.1) brought her 6th place, having scored 40.4 points. After Atsuko Tanaka's jump of 77.0 meters (-0.6/-6.1), jury raised the gate to position 21 for TOP15 jumpers. Carina Vogt flew 98.5 meters (-9.7/-12.2), and her score of 45.1 gave her 4th position. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger performed the longest jump of the round: 101.0 meters (-5.6/-12.2), and 53.8 points allowed to her to be the best jumper of the round. Sarah Hendrickson got closest in distance, and total score: 100.5 meters (-7.2/-12.2), and 51.6 points. Sara Takanashi finished 3rd, with total score of 47.0, and her jump of 96.0 meters (-2.8/-12.2). Interesting competition was waiting, especially due to unpredictable conditions.

Clouds remained above the hill for the 1st round. Wind conditions were between 0.26 m/s from behind the hill to 1.85 m/s towards. Competition was began by Chinese jumper Xueyao Li. She jumped 70.0 meters (-7.8/0.0), and finished 42nd with total score of 44.2 points. Dana Vasilica Haralambie's debut didn't last for long. Romanian's flight of 67.5 meters (-10.1/0.0) brought her 37.4 points and 43rd position. Jumper number 6, Chiara Hoelzl succeeded on the 1st round: Austrian landed at 95.5 meters (-8.6/0.0), crossed the K-point of 95.0 meters as the first jumper, and was 12th jumper of the round. Irina Avvakumova took the lead from Hoelzl by jumping 94.0 meters (-6.4/0.0). Excited Russian was 10 th jumper of the round with 102.1 points. Avvakumova was beaten by Kykkaenen, who flew 92.5 meters (-5.3/0.0), and scored 103.2 points, enough for 9th place. Abby Hughes' jump ended at 81.5 meters (-1.8/0.0), and after her jump jury decided to raise the gate from position 21 to 23. Next jumper, Atsuko Tanaka capitalized on that by jumping 92.0 meters (-2.5/-6.2), and taking 15th position in the results. In front her home crowd, Evelyn Insam wanted to give her best performance: 97.0 meters (-3.7/-6.2), and 106.1 points were enough to take the lead from Kykkaenen. Jessica Jerome flew as the first athlete 100.0 meters (-4.5/-6.2), and overtook Insam by 5.7 points. Carina Vogt gained top speed of the round, 89.5 km/h (55.625 mph), which carried her jump until 99.5 meters (-2.2/-6.2). German collected 115.6 points, and was 5th. Seifriedsberger beat Vogt's score, as Austrian flew 104.0 meters (-3.6/-6.2), and scored 118.7 points. Coline Mattel landed between Seifriedsberger and Vogt with a jump of 102.0 meters (-5.1/-6.2), only 0.5 points behind the Austrian. Sarah Hendrickson had participated in both of the previous World Championships, finishing 29th and 16th. She was determined to improve her best, as she launched herself into the air, flew very high, and her skies touched the ground at hill's HS-point, 106.0 meters (-5.4/-6.2)!! Jumper from the United States of America collected 127.4 points. World Cup leader during that time, Sara Takanashi didn't have an easy task to beat Hendrikcson. Japanese jumper got close, as Takanashi jumped 104.5 meters (-1.7/-6.2), gathered 124.1 points, and took 2nd position.
TOP10: 1. Hendrickson USA 127.4, 2. Takanashi JPN 124.1, 3. Seifriedsberger AUT 118.7, 4. Mattel FRA 118.2, 5. Vogt GER 115.6, 6. Jerome USA 111.8, 7. Insam ITA 106.1, 8. Sagen NOR 105.3, 9. Kykkaenen FIN 103.2, 10. Avvakumova RUS 102.1

Jury of the competition decided to return to starting position 21. Clouds added their role, as slight snowfall started to cover top of the hill. Wind was towards the hill, between 0.22 m/s and 1.52 m/s. Italian Manuela Malsiner started the final round, jumping 87.0 meters (-10.6/0.0), which was enough to rise from 30th to 29th position. Two years earlier, Maja Vtic gained 13 places on the second round in Oslo. In Val di Fiemme, her second competition jump was 94.5 meters (-6.3/0.0), and it helped Slovenian to get from 26th to 19th. Biggest climb of the round belonged to the very first World Champion in ladies' ski jumping, Lindsey Van. Van was 24th after the first round, but improved by 8 positions with a jump of 93.5 meters (-3.2/0.0). Elena Runggaldier was unable to defend her 2nd place from Oslo, but she flew 93.0 meters (-4.3/0.0), and got from 16th to 12th. Silver medalist from Liberec, Ulrike Graessler took the lead, by flying 95.0 meters (-7.1/0.0), and gathering 201.9 points in total. One of the youngest participants of the competion Chiara Hoelzl impressed on the second round as well. 15-year-old Austrian flew 94.5 meters (-7.6/0.0), and captured the lead from Graessler by 2.4 points. After 20 jumpers, Hoelzl led, Graessler was second and Runggaldier third.

Irina Avvakumova had 3.2 points' gap over Hoelzl. 10th jumper after the first round landed at 91.0 meters (-2.7/0.0), gathered 200.4 points, and took equal 4th with Slovenian Spela Rogelj. Kykkaenen was the next jumper attempting to take overtake Hoelzl. Finn got a nice finish for her competition, as she jumped 90.0 meters (-2.0/0.0), took 2nd place, and assured herself at least 10th position. One of the most experienced jumpers, winning 5 times Continental Cup overall standings, Norwegian Anette Sagen, was the one to beat Hoelzl. Sagen flew 94.5 meters (-2.0/0.0), collected 213.3 points, and was 1st. Evelyn Insam didn't steal the lead, as Italian landed at 92.5 meters (-3.6/0.0), but Italian public cheered for Insam's current 2nd place. Jessica Jerome returned colors of the Untied States of America on the 1st position, as she flew 98.0 meters (-4.9/0.0), and beat Sagen's total score by 11.6 points. Carina Vogt didn't allow Jerome to enjoy her 1st place for long: German's skies did touch the ground at 96.0 meters (-5.7/0.0), but her better points from style between 17.5 and 18.5 compared to Jerome's 16.5 and 18.0 were enough to give Vogt the lead by 0.5 points, as four jumpers were remaining. Coline Mattel was only 0.5 points behind the podium after her first jumps, so she did everything she could to take second medal for France in ladies' ski jumping. Mattel flew 95.5 meters (-5.2/0.0), and overtook German by 4.1 points. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger didn't care about the minimum set by the French jumper, and she secured herself a medal: Austrian landed at 98.5 meters (-1.5/0.0), and scored 237.2 points. Takanashi wasn't aiming for the silver. Japanese jumper launched herself in the air, and she didn't land until 103.0 meters' line. Takanashi's compensation points (-3.1/0.0) decreased her total score to 251.0 points. She was sure to beat Seifriedsberger, but would it be enough for beating Hendrikcson. Wind conditions improved a bit for Hendrikcson, as she had to jump 103.0 meters, even though she had 3.3 points' lead after the first round. Jumper from the United States gained a speed of 88.0 km/h (54,692 mph), 0.7 km/h less than Vogt, gained really nice height, and Hendrikcon's skies didn't touch the ground until 103.0 meters. It was enough according to the computers, but she needed better points from style than 18.0. Judges gave her 18.5, 19.5, 19.0, 19.0 and 19.0, which meant 3 x 19.0 points. Hendrickson was surrounded by her team mates, as the results were announced: 1st place, 253.7 points, and World Champioship title! Also coach of the United States, Paolo Bernardi showed his excitement furiously, and got congratulations from other coaches.

TOP10:
1. Sarah Hendrickson  USA   106.0 meters + 103.0 meters = 253.7 points
2. Sara Takanashi  JPN   104.5 m + 103.0 m = 251.0 p
3. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger  AUT 104.0 m + 98.5 m = 237.2 p
4. Coline Mattel  FRA   102.0 m + 95.5 m = 229.5 p
5. Carina Vogt  GER   99.5 m + 96.0 m = 225.4 p
6. Jessica Jerome  USA   100.0 m + 98.0 m = 224.9 p
7. Anette Sagen  NOR   97.0 m + 94.5 m = 213.3 p
8. Evelyn Insam  ITA   96.0 m + 92.5 m = 210.5 p
9. Chiara Hoelzl  AUT   95.5 m + 94.5 m = 204.3 p
10. Julia Kykkaenen  FIN   92.5 m +90.0 m = 203.2 p

All time medal standings in FIS Ski World Championships Ladies' Ski Jumping after Val di Fiemme:
1. the United States of America   2  -  -
2. Austria   1  -  1
3. Germany  -  1  -
3. Italy   -  1  -
3. Japan   -  1  -
6. Norway   -  -  1
6. France   -  -  1

Competition was very exciting to was watch: 7 jumps 100.0 meters or more, 106.0 meters was achieved, and yet another new World Champion was crowned. TOP15 crossed the border of 200.0 points in total, which also proved that level in ladies' ski jumping had increased massively. Next World Ski Championships in Falun would host even more interesting battle for medals in ladies' ski jumping. If everything goes according to the plans, we'll see the official results from Falun's finale in less than 21 hours. Thanks for checking out the third part of this very soon ending and exciting trip. Enjoy your/night, and hopefully you'll conclude the journey with me in our destination, Falun, Sweden. :)

Links:
Official results of the competition (PDF-file), 22nd of February, 2013, Val di Fiemme, Italy
Results of the 1st round (PDF-file), February 22nd, 2013, Val di Fiemme, Italy
Trial round's results (PDF-file), 22nd of February, 2013, Val di Fiemme, Italy

Weekend Analyses of Ladies' Ski Jumping, Championship Edition: Chapter 1: Training rounds start Falun's World Championship

Greetings! Weeks have gone so quickly, and now we're in the phase, when it's time to do the first ever Weekend Analyses of Ladies' Ski Jumping, Championship edition. Let's get to the first events of this very special week.

Wednesday, 18th of February, 2015 (Training day)

Lugnet Ski Jumping center had been improved during years 2012 and 2013. (lugnet = calm, relaxing, relaxation) HS100 hill's record belongs to former Slovenian ski jumper Primoz Peterka: he flew 105.0 meters in a World Cup competition in March, 1996. Ladies' hill record was made today, 18th of February, 2015 by Yuki Ito, who's second training jump ended at 95.0 meters. Hills are well-prepared, and HS 100 hill was ready for ladies' first training rounds.

First training round:
Whole day was cloudy, and not too windy. Starting position was set at gate 26 for the first training round. Wind was between 0.55m/s from behind the hill and 0.03 m/s towards the hill. 15-year-old Hungarian, Virag Voros was the first athlete to give a performance during FIS Ski World Championships in Falun, 2015. Voros' flight didn't last for long, as Hungarian landed at 51.0 meters (+0.1/0.0). Silver medalist from Oslo, Elena Runggaldier, was the first jumper to cross 80.0 meters. Italian jumped 82.5 meters (+2.6/0.0), which was enough to give her 20th position of the round. Finn Julia Kykkaenen did very nice jump: 87.0 meters (+2.9/0.0), gathered 56.9 points, and finished the round in 8th place. Kykkaenen's result wasn't beaten until Taylor Henrich's jump: Henrich landed at 89.0 meters (+2.1/0.0), scored 60.1 points and was 3rd. German Katharina Althaus jumped 88.0 meters (+1.9/0.0), which gave her 6th place. Defending World Champion Sarah Hendrickson flew only 82.0 meters (+2.0/0.0), and finished 23rd. Yuki Ito has jumped a very good season, and she showed some very nice performance on the first training round: 88.0 meters (+2.8/0.0), and 4th place with 58.8 points. Spela Rogelj landed at 15th position. Carina Vogt was absent from Ljubno, preparing for the World Championships. Vogt's skies touched the ground at 88.0 meters (+2.6/0.0), total score of 58.6, just enough for 5th place. Sara Takanshi was the first jumper to beat Henrich's score. Japanese jumper equaled Canadian's distance 89.0 meters (+2.2/0.0), and beat Henrich by 0.1 points. World Cup leader, and World Champion from Oslo, Daniela Iraschko-Stolz jumped longest jump of the round, 89.5 meters (+1.5/0.0) and beat Takanashi's score by 0.3 points.
TOP10: 1. Iraschko-Stolz AUT 60.5, 2. Takanashi JPN 60.2, 3. Henrich CAN 60.1, 4. Ito JPN 58.8, 5. Vogt GER 58.6, 6. Althaus GER 57.9, 7. Vtic SLO 57.1, 8. Kykkaenen FIN 56.9, 9. Seifriedsberger AUT 55.4, 10. Englund USA 54.1

Second training round:
Starting gate was raised from 26 to 27. Wind's variation increased to 0.33 m/s from behind the hill to 0.40 m/s towards the hill. Hungarian Voros improved her distance by 7.0 meters to 58.0 meters (-1.9/0.0). Norwegian Anna Odine Stroem flew as the first lady of the round over 80.0 meters. 16-year-old jumper landed at 84.5 meters (-0.6/0.0), and jumper with number 6 finished 32nd, having collected 48.4 points. Runggaldier improved from the first round, jumping 89.0 meters (-0.7/0.0), gathered 57.3 points, and finished 14th. Kykkaenen flew 86.0 meters (+0.7/0.0), and took 24th place. Taylor Henrich did another great jump: 93.0 meters (-1.3/0.0), scored 64.7 points, which was enough for 7th place. Althaus equaled Canadian's 93.0 meters (-0.7/0.0), but collected 0.6 points more and finished 6th. Hendrikcson came 9th with 62.7 points, and a jump of 91.5 meters (-0.3/0.0). Eva Pinkelnig landed at 93.0 meters (-1.3/0.0) and equaled Henrich's points. Yuki Ito proofed with her second jump that she's in a great shape. longest jump of the round, 95.0 meters (-0.6/0.0), 69.4 points, and 2nd place in the results. Judges decided to drop the gate back to position 26 for four remaining jumpers: Slovenian Rogelj landed at 93.0 meters (-2.6/+3.1), 66.5 points were enough for 5th position. Carina Vogt flew nicely, 93.5 meters (-0.8/+3.1), achieved 69.3 points, which gave her 3rd place. Sara Takanashi topped the results with 70.3 points, and a jump of 94.0 meters (-0.8/+3.1). Iraschko-Stolz jumped 92.0 meters (-0.3/+3.1), and finished 4th, scoring 66.8 points.
TOP10: 1. Takanashi JPN 70.3, 2. Ito JPN 69.4, 3. Vogt GER 69.3, 4. Iraschko-Stolz AUT 66.8, 5. Rogelj SLO 66.5, 6. Althaus GER 65.3, 7. Henrich CAN & Pinkelnig AUT 64.7, 9. Hendrikcson USA 62.7, 10. Seyfarth GER 59.8

Third training round:
Gate 26 was third training round's starting position. Wind's variation decreased, the 'borders' were: 0.32 m/s from behind to 0.28 m/s towards the hill. Virag Voros' final jump of the day was 55.0 meters (+2.5/0.0) brought Hungarian another equaled 44th position with a total score of 0.0 points. Jumper number 2 , Chinese Xueyao Li, appeared on the top of the hill for the first time, and finished 42nd with a score of 6.4 points and a jump of 62.0 meters (+2.4/0.0). Her team mate, Tong Ma's flight ended at 57.0 meters (+1.5/0.0), and she equaled Hungarian's score 0.0. After Ma's jump, judges raised the starting position to gate 27. It assisted Elena Runggaldier to cross 80.0 meters, by jumping 81.5 meters (-1.2/-3.1), which gave her a total score of 38.7, and Italian finished in 22nd. Silver medalist from Liberec, Ulrike Graessler was the last jumper to start from the gate 27. German flew 82.5 meters (-0.8/-3.1), scored 41.1 points and finished 20th. Bronze medalist from Oslo, Coline Mattel jumped next, landed at 79.5 meters (-0.4/-6.2). Jessica Jerome from the United States flew 88.0 meters (0.0/-6.2), and finished in 14th. Jerome's lead didn't last for long, as Taylor Henrich's skies touched the ground at 90.0 meters (+1.2/-6.2). Canadian's total score of 55.0 gave her 9th place in the end. Chara Hoelzl was 11th with 53.0 points, with a jump of 89.0 meters (+1.2/-6.2). Maren Lundby equaled Austrian's 89.0 meters (+1.3/-6.2), beat her score by 0.1 points, and Norwegian finished 10th. German Katharina Althaus decided to skip the final training round. Irina Avvakumova flew 92.0 meters (+0.6/-6.2), and took 7th place with 58.4 points. Russian's score was beaten by Hendrickson, who landed at 92.5 meters (+0.2/-6.2), scored 59.0 and finished 6th. Pinkelnig finished 8th with a jump of 90.5 meters (+0.5/-6.2). Yuki Ito wrapped her day with a 3rd place, scored 60.1 points, and jumped 92.0 meters (-0.8/-6.2). Spela Rogelj equaled Ito's 92.0 meters (-1.8/-6.2), and finished 5th with 59.1 points. Vogt's flight landed at 92.0 meters (-1.3/-6.2), which gave her a score of 59.6 and 4th place. Takanashi flew 93.0 meters (-0.6/-6.2), gathered 62.3 points and was 2nd. Iraschko-Stolz finished the day, where she had started: 1st, 65.8 points, and 94.0 meters (+0.9/-6.2).
TOP10: 1. Iraschko-Stolz AUT 65.8, 2. Takanashi JPN 62.3, 3. Ito JPN 60.1, 4. Vogt GER 59.6, 5. Rogelj SLO 59.1, 6. Hendrickson USA 59.0, 7. Avvakumova RUS 58.4, 8. Pinkelnig AUT 55.3, 9. Henrich CAN 55.0, 10. Lundby NOR 53.1

On the whole, results were as expected. Henrich's lower starting number (30 out of 46) as a result of her appearance in only four of 13 World Cup competitions. Henrich is already familiar with the hill, as she participated in three Continental Cup competitions on Falun's HS100, finishing 13th, 2nd and 1st. Defending World Champion Hendrickson improved during the day, same goes for Spela Rogelj. Katharina Althaus jumped two times 6th place, and was so confident that she decided to rest through the third training round.

I was most impressed by Yuki Ito, Carina Vogt, Sara Takanashi and Daniela Iraschko-Stolz. Ito finished 4th, 2nd and 3rd. Vogt achieved positions: 5th, 3rd and 4th. Takanashi was in TOP2, by being 2nd, 1st and 2nd. Iraschko-Stolz won first and third training round, but was 4th on the second one.
If we show those four jumpers' longest jump, and count their points together, the statistics look like this:
1. Iraschko-Stolz AUT  94.0 m,   60.5p +66.8p + 65.8p = 193.1p
2. Takanashi JPN  94.0 m,   60.2p + 70.3p + 62.3p = 192.8p
3. Ito JPN  95.0 m,   58.8p + 69.4p + 60.1p = 188.3p
4. Vogt GER  93.5 m,   58.6p + 69.3p + 59.6p = 187,5p

Results are interesting, but past has shown us that results of training won't give us 100% correct medal candidates. There's always room for a surprise. I'm happy with the results of the first training day, tomorrow, 19th of February, there's more practice, and also a qualifying session. You'll find about those events on this blog before trial round of the great finale. I hope you enjoyed this analysis, tell you're on the results. Enjoy your day, and this very special week! :)

Links:
Full results of training rounds (PDF-file) , 18th of February, 2015, Lugnet, Falun

Resan till Falun 2015 - Trip to Falun 2015: Part 2: New countries taking over the podium in Oslo

Greetings! Here's the second part of our mini-series Resan till Falun 2015. Speaking of which, the first training day in Falun for ladies on the HS 100 hill has been completed. Therefore, it's a good moment to go back to year 2011 in history of FIS Ladies Ski Jumping World Ski Championships.

First World Ski Championships in Ladies' Ski Jumping in Liberec brought more activity around ladies' ski jumping. Amount of participants increased from 36 to 43, and new nations, such as China and Russia joined in. Among new jumpers, there was a debut-making jumper, who later would become a successful jumper: Sara Takanashi from Japan. Some of the TOP20 names from Liberec got out of the way for newer jumpers: Germans Magdalena Schnurr (7th in Liberec), and Jenna Mohr (15th), Canadians Nata de Leeuw (11th), and Katie Willis (19th), and Norwegian Helena Olsson Smeby (16th). In addition, wind and gate compensation were included for the first time in Ski Jumping in the World Ski Championships. In these reports, compensation points will be shown in this way: (wind/gate). After this general overview, let's get to the events.

Thursday 24th of February, 2011. Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway (Training)

Midstubakken HS106 hill was prepared for Ladies' practice. According to yet another confusing statistics, the first jumper was Russian Maria Notova. To be honest, the statistics are unreadable: one result list shows absence Jaqueline Seifriedsberger from all of the training rounds, another shows similar absence of  complete TOP10 excluding Seifriedsberger, Lindsey Van and Jessica Jerome. Only some assumptions can be made: Daniela Iraschko was listed as 2nd, 1st and 1st in the results. The first training round was (may have been) won by Sara Takanashi. Information about wind, and even jumpers' results altered in every possible way from one result list to another. I'll leave links to the results here below, to show you, how badly FIS must have messed up:
Results of training (PDF-file), Holmenkollen, Oslo, 2011, first version
Results of training (PDF-file), Holmenkollen, Oslo, 2011, second version
Results of training (PDF-file), Holmenkollen, Oslo, 2011, third version

Friday 25th of February, 2011, Holmenkollen, Oslo Norway (Trial Round and World Championship competition)

42 jumpers appeared for a foggy trial round at Midstubakken hill in Oslo. Wind altered between 0.17 m/s from behind the hill to 1.83 m/s towards. The youngest participant in Ladies' Ski Jumping, Sara Takanashi with her incredible jump of 105.0 meters (-9.2/0.0). Takanashi's jump from gate 22 was the longest one during the round, and it brought her a total score of 70.8 points, which were enough to top the results' list. She was followed by Iraschko. Austrian started her jump three gates lower, gate 19, and with gained speed of 87.3 km/h (54,257 mph) she flew 95.5 meters (-8.1/+9.5). Iraschko lost 8.4 points to Takanashi. TOP3 was completed by Coline Mattel. French jumper, 5th in Liberec, landed at 91.5 meters (-0.1/+6.4) and scored 59.3 points. Second longest jump of the round was presented by another Japanese jumper, Ayumi Watase: 100.0 meters (-12.8/0.0) gave her 6th position with total score of 57.2. The defending World Champion Lindsey Van didn't show her best on the training round, having landed at 89.0 meters (-11.5/+6.4) and finishing 17th with 42.9 points. Iraschko seemed to be in great shape once again, but could she convert her good training jumps into great jumps in the competition, or would Sara Takanashi grab the gold?

First competition round was started from gate 21. Foggy weather, and altering wind from towards between 0.06 m/s and 2.03 m/s brought their own effects into the competition. Maria Notova from Russia sat on starting bench with number 1. Her jump's distance was 69.5 meters (-8.9/0.0), and total score 46.6 points meant that Notova's competition lasted only one round, she finished 38th. First jump above 80.0 meters was presented by Italian Roberta D Agostina, who decided to skip the tricky trial round. Italian jumper's 84.0 meters (-12.5/0.0) brought her 28th place after the first round. Maren Lundby in front of her home public wanted to show her skills. Norwegian didn't disappoint viewers, as she flew 89.5 meters (-7.8/0.0) and took the lead from D Agostina by 19.2 points! Finn Julia Kykkaenen challenged Lundby with her jump of 91.5 meters (-13.3/0.0), but Norwegian kept her position only by 0.5 points, Lundby's joy didn't last for much longer, as jumper 19, Alissa Johnson from the United States of America landed at 91.0 meters (-8.3/0.0). Johnson's lead was 3.0 points. Best wind conditions (according to the statistics) were used well by Evelyn Insam. Italian capitalized on 2.03 m/s wind towards the hill and flew 94.5 meters (-14.2/0.0). Her score of 97.8 points gave her 6th position after the first round. Italian's were allowed to enjoy first two positions, when number 32, Elena Runggaldier's jump ended at 97.5 meters (-5.6/0.0). First jump over hill's K-point Longest jump of the round gave her 113.4 points, and she kept lead of the competition for quite a while.

World Cup's current TOP10 performed incredibly variating jumps. Slovenian Maja Vtic jumped 88.5 meters (-9.4/0.0), which was enough for 18th place after the first jump. Defending World Champion Lindsey Van was expected to show her best in the competition. Unfortunately, it didn't go that way. Van didn't capitalize on decent wind conditions, and surprised negatively by landing as early as at 75.0 meters (-8.1/0.0), 20.0 meters earlier than hill's K-point! Jumper from the United Statestook 26th position after her jump. With a slight possibility to qualify, but already lost medal battle, defending Champion had no other choice than accept the situation. Silver medalist from Liberec, Ulrike Graessler was next. German flew 94.0 meters (-7.3/0.0), and squeezed herself between two Italians in the current results. Juliane Seyfarth from Germany, and Jaqueline Seifriedsberger from Austria nearly assisted Lindsey Van with getting on the second round. In the end, jumpers with numbers 37 and 38 finished 31st and 32nd. Jessica Jerome with number 39 didn't perform much better than two previous jumpers, but her 84.0 meters (-5.2/0.0) brought her 21st place after the first round. Number 40, German Melanie Faisst was 19th with 88.0 meters (-9.2/0.0). Eva Logar showed more expected jump: 91.0 meters (-1.8/0.0), and it was enough for 4th place in the results of first round. Mattel continued from where she left: 5th position after the first round, having jumped 92.0 meters (-6.7/0.0) and collected 98.8 points. Austrian coach decided to take a small risk: he lowered starting position by one for Iraschko. Iraschko didn't hesitate, as she flew 97.0 meters (-4.0/+3.2) and took the lead with 118.2 points. Results of the round meant that there would be a new World Champion. TOP10 + medalists from Liberec: 1. Iraschko AUT 118.2, 2. Runggaldier ITA 113.4, 3. Graessler GER 103.2, 4. Logar SLO 102.7, 5. Mattel FRA 98.8, 6. Insam ITA 97.8, 7. Johnson USA 96.7, 8. Demetz ITA 94.8, 9. Takanashi JPN 94.7, 10. Lundby NOR 93.7 ... 13. Sagen & Jahr NOR 92.4 ... 34. Van USA 61,4

Fog dominated Midstubakken hill as well, as the second round was about to start. Wind altered also partially behind the hill: 0.25 m/s from behind the hill to 1.26 m/s towards the hill. Czech Vladena Pustkova began the second round. Pustkova's 78.5 meters (-6.9/0.0) allowed her to finish the competition in 29th place. Second round's first jump over 90.0 meters was performed by Canadian Taylor Henrich. 16-year-old jumper flew 92.0 meters(-6.5/0.0) and went 8 places up to finish 18th. Melanie Faisst was one of the TOP10 World Cup jumpers, who disappointed audience on the first round. German jumped on the second round 92.0 meters (-6.2/0.0), and went from 19th to 9th. The biggest climb was made by Slovenian Maja Vtic. She flew 97.0 meters (-6.6/0.0), and improved by 13 places from 18th to 5th! Vtic's jump 3rd best of the round. Despite good trial round's jump, Ayumi Watase didn't impress with her first competition jump. Her second jump in competition was better, as her skies touched the ground at 93.0 meters (-7.4/0.0), and with that jump she took second place behind Vtic. Bronze medalist from Liberec, Anette Sagen didn't jump on her best level: on the second round Norwegian landed at 80.5 meters (-5.0/0.0), and went down to 22nd position. In comparison, her team mate Line Jahr went from equal 13th with Sagen to 10th place. After 20 jumpers, Vtic was in the lead, followed by Watase and Faisst.

First round's TOP10 had a challenging task to beat Vtic from the lead. The final hope of Norwegians, Maren Lundby tried to complete the mission, but her jump of 85.5 meters (-5.2/0.0) allowed her to take current 5th, right behind Line Jahr, best Norwegian of the day. 14-year-old Sara Takanashi didn't allow Watase to be the best Japanese jumper. Takanashi flew 93.0 meters (-6.7/0.0), but she couldn't beat Vtic. Third Italian in TOP10, Lisa Demetz couldn't had to give up 5 positions as she landed at 83.0 meters (-2.9/0.0) Alissa Johnson's attempt got an unfortunate end, as she couldn't keep her landing balanced after her 81.0 meters' (+1.8/0.0) flight, and the incident dropped her on the 20 position in the overall results. Moreover, Johnson got the worst wind conditions of the round. Evelyn Insam wanted to Demetz' fate to drop out of TOP10: Insam managed it by flying 87.5 meters (-6.7/0.0), and being 4th after her jump. Coline Mattel wanted to get the medal she had lost on the second round in Liberec. French jumper got up in the air, and landed at 97.0 meters (-5.8/0.0), and was first to beat Vtic, with total of 211.5 points. Eva Logar repeated Takanashi's deed, as Slovenian beat her team mate with a jump of 88.5 meters (-3.8/0.0). Logar took current 2nd, 1.9 points ahead of Vtic. Ulrike Graessler was the remaining jumper, who could defend her medal from Liberec, but she failed as well: 79.5 meters (-8.8/0.0) dropped her 16 places to 19th... Mattel had medal for sure, but TOP2 had quite a gap to other jumpers. Elena Runggaldier brought Italian's first medal in history of ladies' ski jumping by jumping 93.5 meters (-5.5/0.0), and gathering 218.9 points. If wind conditions didn't change, Iraschko would need a jump 91.5 meters or more. Wind conditions remained unchanged, Iraschko spread her skies into V-position, flew 97.0 meters (-5.5/0.0), landed in style, and celebrated her first World Championship medal, gold. Austrian remained calm, and could bury the disappointment from two years earlier.

TOP 10:
1. Daniela Iraschko  AUT    97.0 meters + 97.0 meters, 231.7 points
2. Elena Runggaldier  ITA    97.5 m + 93.5 m, 218.9 p
3. Coline Mattel  FRA   92.0 m + 97.0 m, 211.5 p
4. Eva Logar  SLO   91.0 m + 88.5 m, 197.9 p
5. Maja Vtic  SLO   88.5 m + 97.0 m, 196.0 p
6. Sara Takanashi  JPN   92.0 m + 93.0 m, 195.0 p
7. Ayumi Watase  JPN   89.0 m + 93.0 m, 192.8 p
8. Evelyn Insam  ITA   94.5 m + 87.5 m, 188.1 p
9. Melanie Faisst  GER   88.0 m + 92.0 m, 185.1 p
10. Line Jahr  NOR   89.5 m + 84.5 m, 181.3 p

Windy conditions affected competition a lot. Unfortunately even added compensation points aren't enough to cover the loss in meters. In addition, during jumpers flight conditions may get worse or better, and as a result jumper gets either too much extra, or loses too many points. Also, changing the gate is a risk during changing conditions, as one fantastic jump may result in multiple jumpers failure and decreasing competition's entertainment. TOP3 was in their own class, and they had multiple points' differences between themselves. Competition at Holmenkollen gave another boost for ladies' ski jumping's popularity.

All time medal standings, FIS World Ski Championships Ladies' Ski Jumping:
1. the United States of America  1 - -
1. Austria  1 - -
3. Germany  - 1 -
3. Italy  - 1 -
5. Norway  - - 1
5. France  - - 1

Second of Resan till Falun 2015 is completed. There were a lot of changes compared Liberec, but I hope you enjoyed this second part as well. I'm planing to write to FIS about their statistics issue, and start working with the very first Weekend Analyses of Ladies' Ski Jumping, Championship edition. Remember to follow, so you won't miss all the action. Enjoy your day, and hope you'll join this trip to find about Val di Fiemme, Italy! :)

Links:
Official results (PDF-file), World Ski Championships, ladies' ski jumping, Oslo, 2011
Results of the 1st round (PDF-file), World Ski Championships, ladies' ski jumping, Oslo, 2011
Trial Round results (PDF-file), World Ski Championships, ladies' ski jumping, Oslo, 2011
Detailed information about Oslo's HS100 hill

Weekend Preview of Ladies' Ski Jumping: Chapter 3: Ljubno, Slovenia (13.02-15.02.2015)

Greetings! It's time for a short Weekend Preview of Ladies' Ski Jumping!

The host of this weekend's competitions is Ljubno in Slovenia. Ljubno's HS95 hill's K-point is at 85.0 meters, and the hill records belongs to Dejan Judez (89.5 meters, 2009). Ladies' hill record is made by Sarah Hendrickson (95.0 meters, 2012).

The most interesting item of news is that Carina Vogt won't participate in the competitions, since she is preparing for the World Championships. German's results in Rasnov weren't encouraging either, which may have affected her decision as well.

The previous season didn't see competitions in Ljubno. In 2013 both of the competitions were won yet again, by Sarah Takanashi: Japanese jumper won the first competition by 10.9 points ahead of Sarah Hendrickson, followed by Coline Mattel. Takanashi beat Mattel by 23.6 points in the second competition. Sarah Hendrickson came third. Carina Vogt was absent from both of the competitions preparing for the World Championships in Val di Fiemme.

Judging by the latest performances, Sara Takanashi is a favourite for these competition. Daniela Iraschko-Stolz is right beside her. Slovenian Spela Rogelj will be strong at her home hill. Maren Lundby from Norway has jumped very good lately, especially in qualifying; she did finish in TOP3 in Rasnov. Sarah Hendrickson, Nita Englund (both The United States of America) and Yuki Ito (Japan) may mix the order.

Let us enjoy a relaxing weekend, as the first competition is about to begin!

Links:
Detailed information about the hill (Ljubno HS95)
Results of the first competition in Ljubno (16.02.2013)
Results of the second competition in Ljubno (17.02.2013)