25th post of the blog: All the best for ladies, International Women's day (March, 8th)

Greetings!

I want to wish all the best for ladies, as today it's time to celebrate the International Women's Day! :) May this day be great to all of you, and hopefully we'll see more female participants in ski jumping competitions.

I'm planning to start a series about important female ski jumpers, and first three jumpers in the series will be: Carina Vogt, Anette Sagen and Sarah Hendrickson. You can let me know in the comments, who would you like to see in this series of posts. The first post will be released on week 12, after this World Cup season has concluded.

Just to remind you, Ladies' Ski Jumping World Cup finale will be held in Oslo, Norway on Friday, 13th of March, at 17:00 (GMT+1), at Holmenkollbakken. Also Weekend Analyses will return, on Tuesday and Wednesday, we'll recall the events from Slovenian Ljubno!

All in all, I wsih you great Sunday, and hopefully you have excellent weather, wherever you are! :)

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 Analyses of Ladies' Ski Jumping: Chapter 2.3: A short end for Rasnov weekend

Greetings! Now let's take a look at the final day of events in Rasnov:

Sunday, 8th February, 2015 (Trial Round and Competition 2)

The last day in Rasnov was started in overcast conditions with a trial round.Wind was very tricky: 0.74 m/s from behind the hill to 1.32 m/s towards the hill. Starting position was at gate 29. The longest jump of the round was performed yet again by Eva Pinkelnig. Austrian landed at 96.0 meters (-5.1/0.0), finishing first with the total score of 66.9 points. In contrast, the worst achieved distance was 56.0 meters by a Czech Veronika Ptackova with a compensation (-4.2/0.0) and a Romanian Bianca Elena Stefanuta (+3.0/0.0). Sara Takanashi was closest to Pinkelnig's result: 95.0 meters (-6.0/0.0), and 64.0 points in total. Julia Clair was the surprise of the round. 91.0 meters (-2.9/0.0) and 59.1 ponits gave her 3rd place. World Cup leader Iraschko-Stolz flew 89.0 meters (-1.1/0.0), and total score of 56.9 points let her finish 4th. Carina Vogt, Katharina Althaus and Lea Lemare decided to retire from the session, and concentrate fully for the competition.

Conditions got trickier for the first round of the competition: light snowfall with variating wind weren't the best possible combination. Highest amount of wind from behind the hill was 0.48 m/s and towards 1.49 m/s. Starting position remained unchangeable. Michaela Dolezelova couldn't capitalize on the best wind conditions: Czech's 80.5 meters (-9.5/0.0) jump had an unfortunate addition, since she fell before the falling line, and she finished 37 th in the overall results with 60.0 points, Tara Geraghty-Moats from the United States of America did great job: she landed at 93.0 meters (-5.4/0.0), and the jumper with number 11 was 9th after the first round. Geraghty-Moats lead the competition until jumper with number 22: German Juliane Seyfarth equaled Geraghty-Moats' distance 93.0 meters (-6.4/0.0), but with a better landing German took the lead. Her joy lasted until Line Jahr's jump: Norwegian flew 94.5 meters (-2.9/0.0), and scored 115.6 points. Nita Englund sat on the starting bench right after Jahr. She gained 87.9 km/h (54,63 mph), landed at 94.0 meters (-1.7/0.0), scoring 118.3 points, and taking the lead for The United States of America.

TOP10 was yet to jump, Englund was still leading. Russian Irina Avvakumova didn't impress with 91.5 meters (-7.7/0.0), since she was 6th after her jump. Eva Pinkelnig tried to shake the top, but her jump of 96.0 meters (-8.5/0.0) with a horrible landing gave her 4th place after her jump. It seemed like skipping the trial round didn't do good for Althaus: she flew only 87.0 meters (-2.7/0.0), and found herself 19th after the first round. Maja Vtic jumped 3.5 meters more, with compensation (-6.8/0.0) she took 13th position after the first round. Yuki Ito did a decent jump of 93.0 meters (-7.2/0.0), taking 5th after her jump. Jaqueline Seifriedsberger couldn't capitalize on her good conditions either: 89.5 meters (-7.7/0.0), scoring 102.8 points, giving her 18th place of the round. Spela Rogelj flew 90.0 meters (-1.9/0.0), taking 11th after the first round with 109.6 points. Sara Takanashi was the woman to push Englund from the top: 95.0 meters (-1.1/0.0), gathering 121.4 points. Carina Vogt topped the round's velocity competition with 88.6 km/h (55.07 mph), but it didn't give her satisfying distance: 89.0 meters (-1.0/0.0), 51.0 points from style, and 108.0 points in overall. Vogt saw herself 11th after her jump, so skipping the trial round round may have been a mistaken choice. Iraschko-Stolz came from the top of the hill as the last jumper: Austrian landed at 91.5 meters (-0.1/0.0),gathering 116.9 points in total, enough for the 3rd place.

After 1 hour and 41 minutes fight against the wind and slight snowfall, the judges decided it was time to wrap the competition. 1st round's results became official: 1. Takanashi JPN 121.4, 2. Englund USA 118.3, 3. Iraschko-Stolz 116.9, 4. Jahr NOR 115.6, 5. Seyfarth GER 112.1, 6. Pinkelnig AUT 112.0, 7. Ito JPN 111.8, 8. Lundby NOR 110.7, 9. Geraghty-Moats USA 110.1, 10. Rogelj SLO 109.6, 11. Avvakumova RUS 108.3, 12. Vogt 108.0

In the World Cup Standings after 11 competitions TOP3 saw small changes:
1. Iraschko-Stolz AUT 782
2. Takanashi JPN 673
3. Vogt GER 622
4. Rogelj SLO 463
5. Ito JPN 326
6. Seifriedsberger AUT 316
7. Pinkelnig AUT 308
8. Vtic SLO 302
9. Althaus GER 288
10. Englund USA 276


All in all the weekend was a disappointment for Vogt: 8th and 12th weren't the positions she was looking for, so she decided not to participate in Ljubno, and prepare for the World Championships, which start Thursday 19th of February, 2015. Ladies' qualifying is in program, and on Friday we'll find out, who'll be crowned as a World Champion.

Just like last time in Hinzenbach, each day saw a different winner: Friday training rounds for Pinkelnig, Saturday's competition for Iraschko-Stolz and Sunday's smaller competition belonged to Takanashi. TOP3 seems to be pretty secured.

Thank you for reading through the Rasnov weekend. I'll do my best to post about Ljubno's competitions. "Vogt has our support, no matter what are the results!" That'll be second motto of this blog, and the Youtube Channel. Enjoy your day! :)

Links:
Trial Round's results (PDF-file) February 8th, 2015, Rasnov
The official reults of the competition (PDF-file) February 8th, 2015, Rasnov
Complete World Cup Standings (PDF-file) after Rasnov's weekend, 8th February, 2015

Weekend Analyses of Ladies' Ski Jumping: Chapter 2.2: Small changes on the top

Greetings! Let's take a look at the first competition in Rasnov:

Saturday, February 7th, 2015 (Trial Round and Competition 1)

Female jumpers had a chance to do their third training jump on the trial round. The only one skipping this opportunity was Lea Lemare from France. Eva Pinkelnig came across as unstoppable: 100.0 meters (-2.8/0.0), scoring 77.2 points. Sara Takanashi finished 6.1 points behind her with 94.5 meters (-3.8/+5.9). Iraschko-Stolz was third 92.5 meters (-1.2/+5.9), and 69.7 points. Carina Vogt didn't impress with 85.0 meters jump, gathering 53.5 points (-2.4/+5.9) and finishing 23rd! Pinkelnig seemed to have a clear path to her first World Cup victory.

The first round was jumped under clouded sky. Wind was turning from back to towards. The top speed from behind the hill was 0.14 m/s and the highest amount of wind from towards was 0.71 m/s. Gate stayed at position 29 through the whole round. The longest jump of round was performed by Maren Lundby. Norwegian lady jumped 94.5 meters (-2.4/0.0) bringing her 120.6 points, and the lead of the competition after the 1st round. Jumper number 30, Eva Pinkelnig had nice conditions, 0.52 m/s towards, and she capitalized on that landing at 94.0 meters (-3.3/0.0), but low score from judges gave her 4th position with 115.7 points. Yuki Ito jumped 91.0 meters (-2.4/0.0) taking 7th place, and Slovenian Maja Vtic landed at 92.5 meters (-4.2/0.0), which gave her 5th position after the first round. It was time for the TOP3 in World Cup. Sara Takanashi launched herself up in the air finishing her flight at 94.0 meters (-2.8/0.0), bringing her 116.2 points. Carina Vogt gathered herself after the terrible trial round, jumping 92.0 meters (-2.2/0.0). She equaled Vtic's points 113.3. The World Cup leader Iraschko-Stolz landed at 94.0 meters (-1.2/0.0), scoring 120.3 points, which allowed her to take 2nd place after the first round. Anette Sagen from Norway was disqualified due to an illegal suit. TOP7: 1. Lundby NOR 120.6, 2. Iraschko-Stolz AUT 120.3, 3. Takanashi JPN 116.2, 4. Pinkelnig AUT 115.7, 5.Vogt GER and Vtic SLO 113.3, 7. Ito JPN 112.6.

The second round of the competition was in pretty similar conditions, except the wind from behind got stronger, up to 0.39 m/s. The highest speed of the wind towards the hill was 0.23 m/s. Starting poistion remained at 29 until the 9th jumper of the round. Nita Englund was the lucky lady to start her acceleration from gate 30. Englund jumped 90.5 meters (+0.5/-2.9). 6th best jump of the round raised her from 22nd up to 12 th. Line Jahr's jump of 91.5 meters (-0.1/-2.9) raised her from 11th to 7th. The same amount of positions was gained by Spela Rogelj. Slovenian jumped 89.5 meters (+2.6/-2.9) for the second time, bringing her 220.5 points and 5th place. Yuki Ito lost three positions with her 86.5 meters (+1.0/-2.9) jump. It was Maja Vtic's turn to make her jump. She landed at 88.5 meters (-0.2/-2.9), and she couldn't beat her team mate's score. Carina Vogt sat on the starting bench. German was 7.3 points behind Lundby after the first round, which meant she had to jump about 3.5 meters longer than the Norwegian, near 95.0 meters. Vogt gained her speed, flew in the air, but 89.5 meters (-0.2/-2.9) wasn't good enough. Her fight for extra meters didn't do good for her landing, as her score was only between 16.0 and 17.0 points. After her jump she was 4th with a score of 219.2, only 1.3 ponits to Rogelj. Eva Pinkelnig wanted to improve her result after the first round. Austrian jumped 91.0 meters (+2.2/-2.9). The jump was good, but not good enough. The next jumper, Sara Takanashi flew three meters further, 94.0 meters (+2.1/-2.9), gathering total score of 234.9 points. Iraschko-Stolz had a great chance to increase her lead over Vogt. World Cup leader jumped 92.5 meters (+2.7/-2.9), scoring 239.1 points. Lundby was the last jumper at the top of the hill. Norwegian did what she could: 89.0 meters (+2.7/-2.9) weren't enough for the win, nor second position. Lundby finished 3rd with 230.9 points, which ment that Pinkelnig was kicked from the podium. Carina Vogt's great run of TOP2 results came to it's end, 8th place in the official results. TOP8: 1. Iraschko-Stolz AUT 239.1, 2. Takanashi JPN 234.9, 3. Lundby NOR 230.9, 4. Pinkelnig AUT 229.0, 5. Rogelj SLO 220.5, 6. Vtic SLO 219.7, 7. Jahr NOR 219.4, 8. Vogt 219.2

In the overall standings after there were no major changes:
Ladies' World Cup 10/14 competitions:
1. Iraschko-Stolz AUT 722
2. Vogt GER 600
3. Takanashi JPN 573
4. Rogelj SLO 437
5. Seifriedsberger AUT 303
6. Ito JPN 290

There was room for improvement left for Carina Vogt for the Sunday's competition.

Links:
Trial Round Results (PDF-file) February 7th, 2015, Rasnov
Results of the first round (PDF-file), 7th February, 2015, Rasnov
The official results of the first competition (PDF-file) 7th February, 2015, Rasnov
Complete Ladies' World Cup Standings, 7th February, 2015

Weekend Analyses of Ladies' Ski Jumping: Chapter 2.1: Warming up on Friday in Rasnov

Greetings!

It has been challenging couple of weeks, which has forced me to postpone writing these posts. I'll try to pull myself together, and work hard until the end of the season. Apologies, but let's move on to the more interesting part.

Friday, February 6th, 2015 (Practice)

Weekend in Rasnov began with the first practice session, and a cloudy weather. Hinzenbach weekend didn't bring major changes to the top group, but practice sessions revealed a slight surprise. Austrian Eva Pinkelnig was on fire: she took the first position on both training rounds. The 26-year-old lady flew 96.5 meters on her first jump with a compensation (+1.3/+5.9) gathering 80.2 ponits. She landed her second jump at incredible 101.0 meters, which became the new hill record. She scored 79.5 points with compensational points(-2.5/0.0). Yuki Ito surprised some people by being the best Japanese jumper in the second competition in Hinzenbach. Ito kept jumping well, finishing 2nd on the 1st training round with a score of 78.0 (+0.1/+5.9), and 4th on the 2nd round with 76.8 points (+0.9/+5.9). Her first jump was 96.0 meters and the second one 95.0 meters. Sara Takanashi jumped two stable training jumps: 96.5 meters (-1.5/+5.9), 77.4 points in total, and 96.5 meters (-1.1/+5.9), scoring 77.8, and finishing 3rd twice in the results. World Cup leader Iraschko-Stolz did two good jumps. Austrian jumped the longest jump on first training round, 97.0 meters (-3.6/+5.9) and on the second round she landed again at 97.0 meters (-1.5/+5.9). Her finishing positions were 4th with 76.3 points, and 2nd with 78.4 points. Recently excellent qualifying jumps performing Norwegian Maren Lundby finished 5th and 6th in the sessions.

Carina Vogt had to adjust to the Rasnov hill, as she was absent from 2014 competitions. It didn't seem to be a problem to the Olympic Champion. She finished 6th on the first training round with 72.6 points, having landed at 94.5 meters (-2.3/+5.9). On the second round Vogt moved up a position jumping 94.0 meters (-2.5/+5.9) and scoring 71.4 points. The German seemed to be very well prepared for the competitions.

As there were only 39 jumpers, there qualifying session wasn't necessary. After two practice sessions it looked like the weekend would be dominant for Eva Pinkelnig. Vogt and Iraschko-Stolz would be also the greatest candidates for the win, challenged by Takanashi, Ito and Lundby.

Friday Practice results (PDF-file) February 6th, 2015 Rasnov HS100

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)

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 1.2: The first competition gives a boost

Greetings! It's the second part of the weekend analyses of Hinzenbach. Let's find out about the first competition:

Saturday, January 31st, 2015 (Trial Round and Competition 1)

Having jumped either 2 or 3 jumps on Friday, everyone was ready for Saturday. Last jumps before the competition were jumped on the Trial Round. Changing wind played a major role. The best wind was 1.12 m/s towards the hill, and the worst was 1.23 m/s from behind the hill. The worst wind conditions of the round didn't worry Iraschko-Stolz, who jumped 83.0 meters and finsihed 1st with 64.6 points (+8.6/0.0). Second place for Yuki Ito, 64.0 (-1.0/0.0), and Carina Vogt was third with 84.5 meters and a score of 61.9 (+2.9/0.0). Winner of qualifying Maren Lundby was 11th, Chiara Hoelzl 13th, previous season's Overall World Cup winner Sara Takanashi 19th and the fresh Winter Universiade Champion Irina Avvakumova came 12th. Iraschko-Stolz became a clear favourite.

With partly clouded sky, competition was ready to begin. Wind calmed down only a bit, and it was between 0.87 m/s towards the hill and 1.27 m/s from behind the hill. 14 jumpers of 40 jumped from gate 20. The best jumper among them was Lea Lemare, France: 83.5 meters, 106.2 (-1.8/0.0). She was 18th after the first round. Impressive training jumps didn't convert to a great jump on the first round for Chiara Hoelzl. Young Austrian jumped 85.0 meters, but her score of 107.4 (-1.2/-2.4) was enough to get her an equal 14th position with Avvakumova and Kykkaenen from Finland. Maren Lundby came equal 6th with 86.0 meters, and 113.9 (+1.8/-2.4).

From outside the TOP10 the best jumper was Sarah Hendrickson: she scored 119.1 (+1.5/-2.4) with 88.5 meters, and she took 3rd position after the first round. Spela Rogelj was the unluckiest TOP10 jumper with the conditions: wind of 0.90 m/s from behind the hill forced her to land at 79.0 meters, and she was 24th with 101.4 (+6.3/-2.4). Carina Vogt was the first to beat Hendrickson's score: Vogt jumped 89.0 meters and scored 120.7 points (+2.1/-2.4). Sara Takanashi had almost non-existent wind as she flew 88.0 meters, scoring 113.8 (-0.3/-2.4) and taking 8th place after the 1st round. What goes around, comes around. Daniela Iraschko-Stolz' luck turned as she had 0.45 m/s towards the hill. it carried her great jump to 93.0 meters. Her score was 122.5 (-2.6/-2.4), because her landing didn't seem to impress the judges. Coline Mattel from France was disqualified due to an illegal jumping suit. After the 1st round TOP3 was: 1. Iraschko-Stolz (AUT) 122.5, 2. Vogt (GER) 120.8 and 3. Hendrickson (USA) 119.1

On the second round wind became more equal: 0,53 m/s towards to 0.52 m/s from behind. The judges kept the gate at 21. Slovenian Rogelj capitalized on that as she flew all the way to the Hill Size point: 94.0 meters. One of the best conditions of the round (0.48 m/s towards) brought her the longest jump of the competition, 3rd jump of the second round with 124.7 points (-2.8/0.0), and 14th position at the end. Judges of the competition dropped the gate from 21 to 20 for Jessica Jerome, who dropped from 20th to 27th in the end. Chiara Hoelzl's second jump was already better as she jumped 88.0 meters and went from 14th to 11th. Takanashi did also a nice climb. Takanashi flew 89.0 meters and with 122.2 points (-1.1/+4.8) from the second round she went from 8th to 3rd. Lundby dropped from equal 6th to 7th. Sarah Hendrickson couldn't stay on podium: she jumped 83.5 meters with compensation (+1.2/+4.8), and she switched positions with Takanashi. Vogt didn't have much pressure from behind, since Takanashi was 5.9 points behind her after the 1st round. She was aiming for the win and she did good job: 88.0 meters, compensation (+1.6/+4.8) brought a total of 245.6 and 9.6 points lead over Takanashi. Austrian was in her own league. She landed at 91.5 meters, (+0.1/+4.8) bringing her the best jump of the second round as well, and third victory in a row with a total of 251.4. Vogt's jump was again the second best with a score of 124.9, four points less than Iraschko-Stolz. TOP3: 1. Iraschko-Stolz (AUT) 251.4, 2. Vogt (GER) 245.6 and 3. Takanashi (JPN) 236.0

In the World Cup standings Iraschko-Stolz increased her lead to 74 points. Vogt overtook Takanashi by 7 points.

World Cup 7/14 (TOP6):
1. Iraschko-Stolz 542
2. Vogt 468
3. Takanashi 461
4. Rogelj 332
5. Seifriedsberger 243
6. Althaus 232

Complete World Cup Standings January 31st, 2015 (PDF-file)
Official Results, 31st January, 2015 (PDF-file)
1st Round Results, 31st January, 2015 (PDF-file)

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)