30th post of the blog: Weekend Preview of Ladies' Ski Jumping: Chapter 4: All roads lead to Oslo (Holmenkollen)

Greetings!

This is the last Weekend Preview of the 2014/2015 season. Let's get straight to the preview, as the season finale is less than 24 hours away from now.

Oslo's Holmenkollbakken HS134 hill is different from all the hills, which we've seen this season: the largest hill so far was at Oberstdorf, HS106. To take victory, jumps altered between 85 and 105 meters, and now these female jumpers must adjust to the large hill. Last season's winner, Sara Takanashi jumped 132.0 meters and 128.5 meters. It takes more courage to reach those distances, not forgetting the technique, and good conditions. Ladies' hill record belongs to Takanashi, 134.0 meters from 17th of March, 2013.

Let's take a closer look for the previous season's results:
1. Sara Takanashi   JPN   132.0 meters + 128.5 meters  = 257.6 points
2. Katja Pozun   SLO   122.0 m + 122.5 m  = 218.5 p
3. Yuki Ito   JPN   122.5 m + 125.0 m  = 216.2 p
4. Irina Avvakumova   RUS   120.0 m + 121.5 m  = 209.1 p
5. Taylor Henrich   CAN   117.0 m + 121.5 m  = 207.7 p
6. Maja Vtic   SLO   117.5 m + 123.0 m = 207.2 p
7. Maren Lundby   NOR   122.5 m + 115.0 m  = 206.3 p
8. Gyda Enger   NOR   124.0 m + 115.5 m  = 206.1 p
9. Line Jahr   NOR   114.5 m + 120.0 m  = 204.5 p
10. Jessica Jerome   USA   118.0 m + 117.0 m  = 203.2 p

There are some interesting things to note: Carina Vogt, Daniela Iraschko-Stolz and Sarah Hendrickson didn't participate. There were only 30 competitiors, which might mean that the finale has the same rules as men's competition: only TOP30 of current World Cup competitors are allowed to participate. One side also is that the average age of TOP3 was less than 20 years, so young jumpers might be in better position, as they probably have more courage to fly as far as possible. Let's move on to the contemporary situation.

Latest competitions were organized in Falun, World Championships, HS100 hill. Carina Vogt won, Daniela Iraschko-Stolz was 2nd, Yuki Ito 3rd and Sara Takanashi 4th. They probably will be fighting for the win. We shouldn't also forget Sarah Hendrickson, Slovenian Vtic & Rogelj, Maren Lundby and Taylor Henrich. World Cup will conclude, but it's not yet for sure, who'll win the Overall Cup. Standings are quite interesting:
1. D. Iraschko-Stolz   AUT   962
2. S. Takanashi   JPN   873   -89
3. C. Vogt   GER   622   -340
4. S. Rogelj   SLO   549   -413
5. Y. Ito   JPN   398   -564
6. E. Pinkelnig   AUT   382   -580
7. M. Vtic   SLO   378   -584
8. J. Seifriedsberger   AUT  352   -610
9. N. Englund   USA   324   -638
10. S. Hendrickson   USA   319   -643
11. I. Avvakumova   RUS   293   -669
12. L. Jahr   NOR   290   -672
13. K. Althaus   GER   288   -675
14. M. Lundby   NOR   269   -693
15. J. Seyfarth   GER   215   -747
...
17. T. Henrich   CAN   170   -792
19. S. Tikhonova   RUS   141   -821

1st place will be either for Iraschko-Stolz or Takanashi. Vogt and Rogelj will finish in TOP4. Ito, Pinkelnig, Vtic and perhaps Seifriedsberger will fight for 5th. Hendrickson might finish 8th, and Avvakumova must watch out for Jahr, Althaus and Lundby.

Main points to watch in the finale (World Cup wise) :
- Takanashi needs a win, and Iraschko-Stolz can't finish higher than 21st
- Vogt needs at least 9th position to secure 3rd place in the standings
- Battle for 5th will be tough: - Ito and Vtic might be the biggest candidates
- Does Hendrickson become the best jumper from the United States, and finish maybe in 8th?
- Who'll be 11th?

Takanashi's overall win is unlikely, as Iraschko-Stolz hasn't been lower than 8th this season - and there are definetly other candidates for the win: Vogt, Rogelj, Vtic, Hendrickson, Lundby and Henrich, perhaps even Vtic. It'll be also interesting to see, how far will ladies jump.

My TOP3 prediction for the competition: 1. Hendrickson, 2. Takanashi, 3. Vogt.

My TOP6 prediction for the World Cup: 1. Iraschko-Stolz, 2. Takanashi, 3. Vogt, 4. Rogelj, 5. Ito, 6. Vtic

All in all, the finale will be very interesting; don't miss it! The finale starts at 17:00 GMT+1, local time as well. This was quite a preview: hopefully you found some interesting points for the competition. Thank you very much, enjoy your day, and the season finale! :)

Weekend Analyses of Ladies' Ski Jumping: Chapter 3.3: Two winners in one competition! Ljubno's second competition is tight!!!

Greetings!

It's time for the last part of Ljubno's weekend analyses. After quite an expected podium, viewers want to see some surprises, especially Slovenian had higher hopes for their local heroes: Maja Vtic and Spela Rogelj. Let's jump into the events of Sunday, 15th of February.

Sunday, February 15th, 2015 (Qualification/Trial Round + Competition 2)

As usual, second competition's qualifying was organized just a moment before the actual competition.

Qualification [Gate 11, Wind: 0.14 m/s (+1.0 points) from behind to 0.22 m/s towards (-1.3 p)] :

Wind conditions were extremely equal on the qualifying round, the smallest variation I've seen this season. Maren Lundby's series of qualification victories came to its end, as Lundby flew 85.5 meters (-0.8/0.0), and gathered 112.7 points. Norwegian was beaten by Juliane Seyfarth, who also jumped 85.5 meters (-0.6/0.0), but scored 112.9 points. Seyfarth and Lundby were followed by Japanese jumper Kaori Iwabuchi: longest jump of the qualification, 87.0 meters (+0.2/0.0), but her lower points from style lowered her total score to 109.2. Saturday's 11th, Chiara Hoelzl was 4th with 109.0, 2015 FIS Junior World Ski Champion Sofia Tikhonova 5th with 108.9, Saturday's 10th, Line Jahr 6th with 108.8, and Katja Pozun finished in 7th with 108.4 points. Italian Veronica Gianmoena was disqualified due to illegal suit.

All of TOP10 jumpers arrived for the trial round. Thanks to high finishing position on Saturday, Sarah Hendrickson didn't have to participate in the qualifying session. Jumper from the United States of America flew nicely 89.0 meters (-0.8/0.0), and scored 67.2 in total, and was 2nd among TOP10 jumpers, beating also all of the qualification's jumpers. Avvakumova, Englund, Seifriedsberger and Vtic couldn't beat Seyfarth nor Lundby. Eva Pinkelnig jumped 88.0 meters (-1.2/0.0), and scored 64.8 points. Yuki Ito's total score was 65.0, with a jump of 88.0 meters (-1.0/0.0). Rogelj was saving her best for the competition, as Slovenian landed at 86.0 meters (-0.5/0.0), and scored 61.5 points. Sara Takanashi jumped 87.5 meters (-0.5/0.0), and got 64.5 points. Iraschko-Stolz topped the list, with a total score of 70.1, and 90.5 meters (-0.9/0.0).

It seemed like there wouldn't be major surprises on the top, but pretty equal conditions gave hope for an interesting competition.

First round [Gate 11, Wind: 0.58 m/s from behind (+4.1 p) to 0.35 m/s towards (-2.1 p)] :

Variation in wind conditions increased, which wasn't a good sign. Competion was begun by Slovenian Anja Javorsek. Javorsek jumped 75.0 meters (+0.1/0.0), and finished in 39th with a score of 89.6 points. Elena Runggaldier couldn't capitalize on round's best wind conditions according to the computers: Italian landed at 81.0 meters (-2.1/0,0) and scored 100.4 points, which was enough only for 33rd place in the competion. Qualification's third, Iwabuchi didn't impress, as she jumped 83.5 meters (+0.5/0.0), and was 19th after the first round. The next jumper after Iwabuchi, number 28, Julia Clair was the first jumper to cross the K-point: exactly 85.0 meters (+0.1/0.0), and French jumper's score of 113.1 brought her 11th position after the first round. Juliane Seyfarth took the lead of the competition after 28 jumpers with a flight of 85.0 meters (+1.2/0.0), and a score of 113.2 points. Maren Lundby didn't succeed on the first round, as her jump of 83.5 meters (+0.8/0.0) brought Norwegian 13th place after the first round. Seyfarth was beaten by Line Jahr, who flew 85.5 meters (+1.4/0.0), and scored 113.4 points.

TOP10 started with Sarah Hendrickson's jump: 89.0 meters (+0.2/0.0), longest jump of the round, and 3rd position after the first round with a score of 119.7. Irina Avvakumova didn't improve for the competition, as Russian flew 82.5 meters (+0.4/0.0), and was 20th after the first round, right ahead of Jacqueline Seifriedsberger. First of local heroes, Maja Vtic jumped 86.0 meters (+1.0/0.0), and took current 2nd. Eva Pinkelnig also landed at 86.0 meters (+1.6/0.0), and Austrian was current 4th with a score of 113.6. Yuki Ito flew 86,5 meters (+2.4/0.0), and was right behind Hendrickson with 118.4 points in total. Rogelj was right above Vtic, as Rogelj jumped 85.0 meters (+2.4/0.0), and scored 116.4 points. Sara Takanashi took the lead from Hendrickson: Japanese jumper landed at 88.5 meters (+3.1/0.0), and gathered 121.6 points. Daniela Iraschko-Stolz jumped 88.0 meters (+4.1/0.0), but highest compensation points from the wind helped her to be ranked 1st with a score of 124.6 points.
TOP10: 1. Iraschko-Stolz AUT 124.6, 2. Takanashi JPN 121.6, 3. Hendrickson USA 119.7, 4. Ito JPN 118.4, 5. Rogelj SLO 116.4, 6. Vtic SLO 115.5, 7. Englund USA 113.8, 8. Pinkelnig AUT 113.6, 9. Seyfarth GER 113.4, 10. Jahr NOR 113.2

Second round [Gate 12, Wind from behind: 0.74 m/s (+5.3) to 0.31 m/s (+2.2)] :

As the wind turned for the whole round from behind, jury decided to raise the starting position from gate 11 to gate 12. One wind direction predicted a very interesting round. Japanese jumper, Yurina Yamada, started the round with a jump of 81.0 meters (+4.9/0.0), which raised her from 30th to 23th. It was the climb of the round, equaled by Jacqueline Seifriedsberger: Austrian flew 84.0 meters (+4.9/0.0), and got from 21st to 14th. FIS Junior World Ski Champion, Sofia Tikhonova improved from her 18th place to 13th: Russian landed at 84.0 meters (+5.0/0.0), and scored 221.3 points. Saturday's 11th, Chiara Hoelzl, jumped 84.0 meters (+4.2/0.0), and gathered 222.3 points. Saturday's 4th, Lundby, couldn't improve, and Norwegian finished in 15th with a score of 218.9. After 20 jumpers, Hoelzl led, Julia Clair was 2nd, and Tikhonova 3rd.

TOP10 started with Julaine Seyfarth's jump: 89.0 meters (+4.1/0.0), which gave 15.0 points lead over Hoelzl. Norwegian Line Jahr flew 85.5 meters (+4.5/0.0), and scored 230.9 points, which gave her the current 2nd. Eva Pinkelnig jumped 85.5 meters (+4.1/0.0), and gathered 230.7 points, right ahead her team mate Hoelzl. Nita Englund's jump wasn't enough for current TOP3: worst conditions of the round, and her jump of 84.5 meters (+5.3/0.0), gave her 10th in the official results with 228.6 points in total. Crowd hoped for a good jump Maja Vtic: Slovenian landed at 85.0 meters (+3.9/0.0), which wasn't enough to beat Seyfarth; current 2nd with 231.4 points. Spela Rogelj was the lady to beat the German: Rogelj flew 88.5 meters (+4.3/0.0), and collected 242.7 points. Slovenian kept her lead, as Yuki Ito landed at 84.5 meters (+2.2/0.0), and finished in 6th with a score of 233.6. Sarah Hendrickson prepared for her second jump. Hendrickson pushed herself of the start gate, gained a total speed of 85.6 km/h (53,201 mph), launched herself into the air, and her skies touched the ground at 88.0 meters (+4.1/0.0). She gathered 243.8 points, and took the lead as two jumpers were yet to jump. Sara Takanashi wanted to make a double: Japanese jumper flew 89.5 meters (+3.3/0.0), and took the lead with a score of 244.9. Iraschko-Stolz did what she could, but 87.5 meters (+4.3/0.0) didn't seem to be enough for the win. All the points were added, and it showed 1st position - equally with Takanashi, 244.9 points. Two winners were followed by Hendrickson, with a local hero, Rogelj, who had to satisfy with 4th place, only 2.2 points from the winners! Rogelj made the best jump of the round, 126.3, followed by Hendrickson & Seyfarth's 124.1.
TOP10: 1. Iraschko-Stolz AUT & Takanashi JPN 244.9, 3. Hendrickson USA 243.8, 4. Rogelj SLO 242.7, 5. Seyfarth GER 237.3, 6. Ito JPN 233.6, 7. Vtic SLO 231.4, 8.Jahr NOR 230.9, 9. Pinkelnig AUT 230.7, 10. Englund USA 228.6.

World Cup Standings after Ljubno (12/13) :
1. D. Iraschko-Stolz   AUT   962
2. S. Takanashi   JPN   873
3. C. Vogt   GER   622
4. S. Rogelj   SLO   549
5. Y. Ito   JPN   398
6. E. Pinkelnig   AUT   382
7. M. Vtic   SLO   378
8. J. Seifriedsberger   AUT   352
9. N. Englund   USA   324
10. S. Hendrickson   USA   319

So that's all for Ljubno's weekend. It was quite exciting, although Carina Vogt didn't arrive in Ljubno. Also, it was good piece of news that Overall World Cup wasn't won yet, but 89 points is quite a safe lead for Iraschko-Stolz, whose worst position this season is 8th. Hopefully enjoyed this, and soon you may read Weekend Preview for Oslo's race, so don't forget to take a look at the blog later! Enjoy your day! :)

Links:
Full World Cup Standings after Ljubno (PDF-file)
The official results of Ljubno's second competition (PDF-file)
Results of the first round, Ljubno, 15th of February, 2015 (PDF-file)
Qualifying/trial round results from Ljubno, 15th of February 2015, (PDF-file)

Weekend Analyses of Ladies' Ski Jumping: Chapter 3.2: No major surprises in the first competition in Ljubno on Saturday

Greetings!

After Friday's practice sessions, competitors were getting ready for the competition. Last preparations would take place on the trial round.

Saturday, February 14th, 2015, Ljubno, Slovenia (Trial round and Competition 1):

Trial round [Gate 11, Wind: 0.95 m/s from behind (+6.8 points) to 0.01 m/s towards (-0.1 p)] :

Trial rounds results were quite expected, excluding Slovenian Katja Pozun's very high 5th place, with a jump of 86.0 meters (+1.8/0.0), and 63.8 points. One of the competition's strongest candidates for podium, Sarah Hendrickson flew 84.5 meters (+4.2/0.0), 7th place with a score of 63.2. Friday's TOP3 jumper, Maren Lundby finished 3rd: 85.0 meters (+5.9/0.0), 65.9 points. Line Jahr got biggest compensation points (+6.8/0.0), and she was 10th, after a jump of 81.5 meters, which gave her 59.8 points in total. Maja Vtic was 6th, as Slovenian jumped 84.5 meters (+4.5/0.0), and scored 63.5 points. Another local hero, Spela Rogelj proved that she would be fighting for a podium position: 2nd place, thanks to her flight of 87.0 meters (+3.2/0.0), and a score of 67.2. Sara Takanashi took 4th, as she jumped 86.0 meters (+2.7/0.0) and scored 64.7 points. Daniela Iraschko-Stolz was in her own class, as Austrian flew 90.0 meters (+3.2/0.0), and scored 73.2 points, 6.0 points more than Rogelj. Iraschko-Stolz became even stronger favorite for the win.

First round [Gate 11, Wind: 1.02 m/s from behind (+7.3 p) to 0.54 m/s towards (-3.2 p)] :

Wind got stronger, and less equal for the first round of the competition. Some of the clouds drifted away with the wind. This round was started by Julija Srsen. Slovenian jumped 74.5 meters (+2.8/0.0), scored 88.8 points, and finished 39th in the results. Gyda Enger was the unluckiest with the conditions (+7.3/0.0), but her jump of 78.5 meters, and a score of 105.3 brought Norwegian equal 20th position with Julia Clair. Katja Pozun handled the pressure on the first round:81.5 meters (+5.8/0.0), 111.8 points, 10th place. Japanese jumper, Kaori Iwabuchi was the first one to cross K-point's line: number 21 landed exactly at 85.0 meters (-0.2/0.0), and a score of 104.8 points gave her 23th place after the first round. Coline Mattel didn't impress on the first round: according to the compensation points, French jumper had the best wind conditions of the round: 81.0 meters (-3.2/0.0) was enough for 29th position, and 100.3 points. Chiara Hoelzl flew 86.5 meters (-0.8/0.0), and Austrian took the lead of the competition from Pozun with a score of 114.2. Juliane Seyfarth jumped between Hoelzl and Pozun, with a jump of 84.5 meters (+0.5/0.0), and 113.0 points. Sarah Hendrickson 86.0 meters (-0.2/0.0), but her better points from style comparing to Hoelzl brought Hendrickson first position, due to her score of 115.8. Qualification's winner, Maren Lundby didn't allow Hendrickson to enjoy the lead for long: Norwegian jumped 85.0 meters (+2.5/0.0), and scored 117.0 points.

TOP10 jumpers had trouble to beat Lundby's score. Line Jahe was 12th with a jump of 86.0 meters (-3.2/0.0), Irina Avvakumova 16th, 82.5 meters (+2.3/0.0), and Nita Englund's 83.5 meters (+2.1/0.0) brought 11th position. Maja Vtic sat on the starting position. Vtic gave a reason for Slovenians to enjoy, as one of the local heroes flew 84.5 meters (+6.0/0.0), scored 119.0 points, and took the lead from Lundby. Eva Pinkelnig's 85.5 meters (+1.5/0.0) were enough for current 4th. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger and Yuki Ito disappointed, as Austrian was only 14th, and Ito 13th after the first round. Spela Rogelj wanted to join Vtic, but Rogelj's jump of 84.0 meters (+2.1/0.0) was enough for 8th place in the first round's results. Sara Takanashi stole the lead from Vtic, as Japanese jumper flew 88.0 meters (+5.1/0.0), and scored 123.1 points in total. Daniela Iraschko-Stolz took her position, as Austrian landed at 89.0 meters (+4.0/0.0), and gathered 126.0 points.
TOP10: 1. Iraschko-Stolz AUT 126.0, 2. Takanashi JPN 123.1, 3. Vtic SLO 119.0, 4. Lundby NOR 117.0, 5. Hendrickson USA 115.8, 6. Pinkelnig AUT 114.5, 7. Hoelzl AUT 114.2, 8. Rogelj SLO 114.1, 9. Juliane Seyfarth GER 113.0, 10. Pozun SLO 111.8

Second round [Gate 11, Wind: 1.11 m/s from behind (+7.9 p) to 0.46 m/s towards (-2.7 p)] :

Partly clouded sky was covering the HS 95 hill, as 31 jumpers were ready to participate on the second round. Anna Rupprecht began the round: German's jump ended at 77.0 meters (+5.4/0.0), and she scored 198.9 points in total. Lisa Wiegele had equal points with Rupprecht after the first round, but Austrian jump of 74.0 meters (+5.2/0.0) she finished in unpleasant 31st position, 8.2 points behind Rupprecht, who was 30th in the results. Tara Geraghty-Moats made the biggest climb of the competition, as the jumper from the United States of America flew 85.0 meters (+2.9/0.0), gathered 215.2 points in total, and got from 28th to 17th. Anna Haeffele couldn't use the best conditions of the round, as German jumped 82.0 meters (-2.7/0.0), and her score of 205.8 were enough for the 27th  place in the results. In contrast, Slovenian Ursa Bogataj had the worst conditions: Bogataj landed at 79.5 meters (+7.9/0.0), and dropped from 19th to 22nd. Yuki Ito was the best TOP10 jumper to improve her position after first round's disappointment: she flew 87.5 meters (-0.1/0.0), and took the lead of the competition with a score of 226.8. Ito was leading after 20 jumps, followed by Line Jahr and Nita Englund.

TOP10 was started by Katja Pozun. Slovenian wanted to give the crowd a good jump: Pozun landed at 84.0 meters (+2.8/0.0), scored 225.6 points, and couldn't take the lead from Ito. Since Carina Vogt was absent, Juliane Seyfarth was the best German jumper after the first round. Seyfarth didn't stay in the TOP10, because she jumped only 81.0 meters (+4.9/0.0), and the best German finished 13th in the official results. Spela Rogelj prepared for her jump. After slightly disappointing first round she wanted to improve the atmosphere among Slovenian fans. Rogelj did take the lead with a score of 232.0 points, but her jump of 85.0 meters (+2.9/0.0) wasn't as good as Slovenians wanted. Chiara Hoelzl wasn't able to beat Rogelj, because Austrian landed at 84.5 meters (+4.0/0.0), and took current 5th position. Eva Pinkelnig achieved the second best distance of the competition: 89.0 meters (-0.8/0.0), and a total score of 233.7 points gave her current 1st place. Sarah Hendrickson sat on the starting bench. Hendrickson launched herself into the air, landed at 87.0 meters (+2.3/0.0), gathered 237.1 points, and took the lead of the competition. Maren Lundby wanted to return back to the TOP3, and Norwegian flew for the second time 85.0 meters (+3.3/0.0), but her score of 234.8 wasn't enough to beat Hendrickson. Slovenians hopes for podium remained with Vtic. To take the lead, Vtic had to fly about 85.0 meters. She got the start signal from her coach, gained a total speed of 84.9 km/h (52,766 mph), gained height, but landed at 83.0 meters (+4.9/0.0). Vtic waited for her total score, but unfortunately she had to satisfy with current 4th with 232.9 points. Sara Takanashi had to take lead to keep World Cup hopes alive. Japanese jumper gained a total speed of 85.2 km/h (52.952 mph), and flew the longest jump of the competition: 90.0 meters (+2.9/0.0), and the total score of 248.5 points gave her a massive lead of 11.4 points. Iraschko-Stolz couldn't beat Takanashi: 88.0 meters (+0.9/0.0), and 245.4 points were enough for the second position. These results also meant that Sarah Hendrickson took her first podium in the World Cup since her win in Oslo in March 2013, and her injury from August 2013.
TOP10: 1. Takanashi JPN 248.5, 2. Iraschko-Stolz AUT 245.4, 3. Hendrickson USA 237.1, 4. Lundby NOR 234.8, 5. Pinkelnig AUT 233.7, 6. Vtic SLO 232.9, 7. Rogelj SLO 232.0, 8. Ito JPN 226.8, 9. Pozun SLO 225.8, 10. Jahr NOR 224.9

There were no major changes in the World Cup standings (11/13 competitions) :
1. D. Iraschko-Stolz   AUT   862
2. S. Takanashi   JPN   773
3. C. Vogt   GER   622
4. S. Rogelj   SLO   499
5. Y. Ito   JPN   358
6. E. Pinkelnig   AUT   353
7. M. Vtic   SLO   342
8. J. Seifriedsberger   AUT   334
9. N. Englund   USA   298
10. K. Althaus   GER   288
...
12. S. Hendrickson   USA   259

The competition was quite interesting, and it predicted another very interesting one for Sunday. Check out the blog to find about that as well. Chapter 3.3 coming soon! Thank you for this one!

Links:
Full World Cup standings after the first competition in Ljubno (PDF-file)
Official results of the first competition in Ljubno (PDF-file)
Results of the first round in Ljubno, Saturday, (PDF-file)
Results of the trial round Ljubno, Saturday (PDF-file)

Weekend Analyses of Ladies' Ski Jumping: Chapter 3.1: Warming up in Ljubno on Friday

Greetings!

You may be surprised, why am I doing this only now, but there are some reasons: Due to a couple of important exams, amount of time was restricted. In addition, FIS Ski World Championships are arranged every second year, so I decided to concentrate on the main event of the season. Besides, World Cup Season hasn't concluded, so there wasn't much of a hurry. Carina Vogt's absence didn't motivate me either, but now we'll get it uploaded here. :)

Ljubno's hill is very interesting, since it's K-point is at 85 meters, and Hill Size is 95 meters. Ladies' Hill Record belongs to Sarah Hendrickson, who flew 95.0 meters on 12th of February, 2012. After this introduction, and some excuses, let's take a look at Friday 13th of Febryary, 2015.


Friday, February 13th, 2015, Ljubno, Slovenia (Training rounds + Qualification):

Three jumping rounds were scheduled on Friday in Ljubno. First training round was under partly clouded sky. The wind altered between 0.35 m/s from behind to 0.80 m/s towards. The gate was changed three times: first 33 jumpers started acceleration from starting position 12, number 35, Maren Lundby from gate 11, numbers 36-44 from gate 10, and Iraschko-Stolz started from the gate 9.

Jumps didn't impress at the start. as number 19, Abby Hughes was the first jumper, who got close to the K-point: 83.5 meters (+1.6/0.0), and it gave her 58.6 points in total, 15th place in the results. Katja Pozun with number 22 landed 0.5 meters before the K-point: 84.5 meters (+2.1/0.0), 61.1 points, 11th position. Juliane Seyfarth was a bit lucky with the conditions, but she used them properly: 90.5 meters (-3.7/0.0), 67.3 points gave the German 10th place. Next jumper, Sarah Hendrickson flew 90.0 meters (-2.5/0.0), 67.5 points, and 9th position. Maren Lundby was next: Norwegian started one gate lower, but it didn't stop her: 90.0 meters (-1.6/+4.2), 72.6 points, and 3rd place in the rankings. Maja Vtic and Eva Pinkelnig finished equal sixth in the results: 69.4 points; Vtic flew 87.0 meters (-3.0/+8.4), and Pinkelnig 86.5 meters (-2.0/+8.4). Jacqueline Seifriedsberger collected 69.0 points with a jump of 86.0 meters (-1.4/+8.4), Yuki Ito landed at 87.5 meters (-1.0/+8.4), scoring 72.4 points, and Slovenian Spela Rogelj beat Ito by 0.1 points with 88.0 meters' flight (-1.9/+8.4). Sara Takanashi flew the longest jump of the round, 91.5 meters (-1.8/+8.4), and scored 79.6 points. Daniela Iraschko-Stolz started her jump from a gate lower: 87.0 meters (-0.6/+12.6), giving her 76.0 points, and second position, 3.6 points behind Takanashi. Tara Geraghty-Moats didn't participate on the first training round.

On the second training round, the gate remained stable on the position 10. All 45 jumpers jumped under partly clouded sky, with altering wind between 0.58 m/s from behind to 0.86 m/s towards. Sarah Hendirckson kept jumping well: she flew 85.5 meters (+1.7/0.0), gathered 62.7 points, enough for 7th place in the results. Maren Lundby remained in the TOP3: first training round's 3rd finished now in 2nd: 87.0 meters (+0.9/0.0), with total score of 64.9 points. Slovenian Maja Vtic seemed to enjoy jumping in Slovenia: 86.5 meters (+0.5/0.0), 63.5 points, and solid 5th position. Yuki Ito flew into the TOP3 with a jump of 86.0 meters (+1.8/0.0), and scored 63.8 points. Vtic was joined by her team mate Rogelj, who jumped 85.5 meters (+2.1/0.0), and finished 6th with 63.1 in total. Takanashi topped the results once again with a score of 69.5 points, and the longest jump of the round, 89.0 meters (+1.5/0.0). Iraschko-Stolz landed fourth in the results: 63.7 points, and a jump of 86.0 meters (+1.7/0.0).

Jury raised the gate to position 11 for the qualification round. For the first time in a while, all of the jumpers were forced to jump in average wind of one direction: it was from behind, and altered between 0.82 m/s and 0.31 m/s.Slovenians got five jumpers through the qualification: Eva Logar was best of them with a jump of 81.5 meters (+5.4/0.0), scored 110.9 points and finished impressively in 3rd. Katja Pozun was 6th with 107.8 points, Ursa Bogataj 9th with 105.7 points, and last two positions, which guaranteed the place in the competition, were taken by Julija Srsen, 90.9 points, and Anja Javorsek with 88.3 points. In addition to those jumpers, two prequalified local heroes, Maja Vtic and Spela Rogelj raised the number to 7, which would make the Slovenian team the biggest one in the competition.Vtic didn't show up for the last training round, but Rogelj jumped 86.0 meters (+3.6/0.0), and was second among TOP10 jumpers of the round. Qualification was won by Maren Lundby. Norwegian flew 86.5 meters (+5.1/0.0), scored 1221 points, and took the first position by impressive 7.5 points. Lundby was followed by Hendrickson, who landed at 83.5 meters (+4.6/0.0), and scored 114.6 points in total.

Current TOP10's jumps' distances were between 80.5 meters and 86.0 meters, which was also the most common distance, achieved by three jumpers: Pinkelnig, Rogelj and Iraschko-Stolz, who also scored the highest amount of points among the TOP10: 67.6 points. If we scratch judges' points from Lundby's score, Norwegian got 68.1 points, the highest of all. Rogelj would be 3rd with 65.6 points, followed by Pinkelnig with 65.4 points. Two previous rounds' winner, Takanashi scored 64.1 points with a jump of 85.0 meters (+4.1/0.0). Vtic wasn't the only absent person, because Nita Englund didn't participate.

Based on three rounds of jumps, Sara Takanshi, Daniela Iraschko-Stolz, and Maren Lundby were the three strongest candidates for the win. Local heroes Vtic and Rogelj could mix the order in TOP6. Ito, Hendrickson and Pinkelnig shoudln't be forgotten either.

This was quite an exciting training day to analyse, even though Carina was absent. For today, this is enough. Tomorrow, on 12th of March, the analyses will be completed, so don't forget to return to this blog tomorrow as well. I wish you good night, as it's 10:45 pm here in Finland! :)

Links:
Results of the training rounds (PDF-file), 13th of February, 2015, Ljubno, Slovenia
Results of the qualification (PDF-file), February 13th, 2015, Ljubno, Slovenia

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! :)

Weekend Analyses of Ladies' Ski Jumping, Championship Edition: Chapter 2: Who takes over HS100 hill, who's the Champion?

Greetings!
Want to find out the TOP3? - Click this link!
I'm very pleased to write this analysis. You must have seen some items of news, how it went, but let's go through the competition piece by piece. I guess it's time to start with the trial round.

Friday, February 20th, 2015, Falun, Sweden: Lugnet HS100 (Trial round + Grand finale)

Trial round (Wind: 0.20 m/s behind (+1.5 p) to 0.98 m/s towards (-6.3 p) Gate 25, G 26 (-3.1 points)):

Last test before the competition was held under cloudy sky. Wind direction and strength altered during the round. Chinese jumper Xueyao Li started, and jumped 76.0 meters (-4.2/0.0), and scored 27.8 points, enough for 39th place. Anna Odine Stroem crossed 80 meters as the first jumper: 82.5 m (-3.9/0.0), 31st with 41.1 points. Elena Runggaldier jumped into TOP20, after 88.0 m's (-6.3/0.0) flight, with 49.7 in total. Tara Geraghty-Moats performed well on the trial round: 89.5 m (-2.9/0.0), 10th, 56.1 points. Jessica Jerome's 88.0 m's jump (+0.8/0.0) was enough for 56.8, and 9th position. Taylor Henrich flew 91.0 m (-0.1/0.0), and came 3rd in the results, 61.9 points. Jury decided to raise the gate for four jumpers: Sarah Hendrickson capitalized on that, as the defending Champion landed at 93.0 m (-2.7/-3.1), got 4th with 60.2 points. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger's jump of 91.0 m (-2.8/0.0) took her to 7th place. Yuki Ito took the lead from Henrich, with 94.0 m's flight (-1.9/0.0), and Japanese jumper scored 66.1 points. Spela Rogelj jumped 90.5 m (-2.0/0.0), and finished 8th. Carina Vogt flew 91.0 m (-2.2/0.0), which gave German 6th position. Sara Takanashi finished one position higher: 91.0 meters (-2.1/0.0), and 59.9 points. Daniela Iraschko-Stolz landed at 92.5 m (-1.4/0.0) and was ranked 2nd.
TOP10: 1. Ito JPN 66.1, 2. Iraschko-Stolz AUT 63.6, 3. Henrich CAN 61.9, 4. Hendrickson USA 60.2, 5. Takanashi JPN 59.9, 6. Vogt GER 59.8, 7. Seifriedsberger AUT 59.2, 8. Rogelj SLO 59.0, 9. Jerome USA 56.8, 10. Geraghty-Moats USA 56.1

Ito seemed to be very strong. Could she perform two more jumps on the same level, or would so far more succeeded competitiors, such as Iraschko-Stolz, Takanashi, Vogt or Hendrickson, handle the pressure better?

First round (Wind: 0.79 m/s behind (+6.1 p) to 0.71 m/s towards (-4.5 p), Gate 25):

Clouds remained above Lugnet's sports center. Wind changed more radically, and skill wasn't the only needed thing to succeed. Xueyao Li sat on the starting bench as the first jumper: 75.5 meters (+2.2/0.0), 78.2 points and 37th place. Barbora Blazkova didn't capitalize on the best wind conditions suggested by the computer: Blazkova's flight ended at 75.5 meters (-4.5/0.0), and Czech Republic's jumper was ranked 39th. Some of the succeeded jumpers from previous World Championships and Olympic Games had issues: Ulrike Graessler, silver medalist from Liberec, was 23rd, Elena Runggaldier, silver medalist from Oslo came 27th, and bronze medalist from Oslo and Sochi, Coline Mattel was only 28th! Julia Clair, Mattel's team mate jumped next, and Clair continued her good jumps from qualification: 89.0 meters (-1.9/0.0) gave French jumper 10th place after the first round. Jumper number 24, Taylor Henrich proved her very good shape, as Canadian flew 90.5 meters (+2.0/0.0), and took the lead of the competition with 115.5 points. Sarah Hendrickson began TOP10 jumpers' group: the defending champion was unlucky, as strongest wind from behind forced her to land at 87.0 meters (+6.1/0.0), and jumper from the United States of America wasn't satisfied with 111.6 points, and 8th place after the first round. Four favorites of the competition seemed to perform well. Yuki Ito flew 89.0 meters (+2.4/0.0), and was 2nd 1.6 points behind Canadian. Carina Vogt had a great chance to improve her 5th place from Val di Fiemme. Vogt began realizing the plan by landing at 91.5 meters (+2.2/0.0), scoring 119.2 in total, and taking the lead. Slight smile appeared on German's face. Sara Takanashi launched herself into the air, and didn't land until 90.0 meters' line (+2.9/0.0), but her poor landing decreased the amount of points, and was ranked 8th after her jump. World Champion from Oslo, Daniela Iraschko-Stolz, showed, why she's the leader in World Cup standings: 92.5 meters (+2.9/0.0), new hill record, and 3.7 points gap to Vogt.

TOP10: 1. Iraschko-Stolz AUT 122.9, 2. Vogt GER 119.2, 3. Henrich CAN 115.5, 4. Ito JPN 113.9, 5. Pinkelnig AUT 113.6, 6. Seifriedsberger AUT 112.9, 7. Rogelj SLO, 111.9, 8. Hendrickson USA 111.6, 9. Takanashi JPN 111.4, 10. Clair FRA 108.6.

Takanashi's total score was a bit of a disappointment. Other three main favorites came across more calm, and Henrich's third position would bring more interest into the final jumps.

Grand Finale, Second Round (Wind: 0.38 m/s behind to 0.45 m/s towards, Gate 26):

Obviously clouds wanted to watch this exciting event until the end. Michaela Dolezelova got the honor to start the round: Czech's 83.0 meters (+1.0/0.0) were enough to overtake Elena Runggaldier, and it helped Dolezelova to finish 29th. Coline Mattel was very unhappy with her result: so far her worst position in World Championships was 5th, but this event brought French jumper 27th place. Ladies' Ski Jumping's performance level has raised during past couple of years, as the highest climb of the round was only five spots: Jessica Jerome from the United States flew 90.5 meters (+0.6/0.0), gathered 219.4 points, and got from 14th to 9th. Jerome was also leading after 20/30 jumpers, second was Irina Avvakumova from Russia, and third Nita Englund, Jerome's team member.

TOP10 was begun with French coach's last hope for a good result: flag was wawed, and so began Julia Clair's performance. For her, her coach's and French fans, it ended sadly: 83.5 meters (-0.8/0.0), 205.3 points in total, and 21st place in the official results. Sara Takanashi had a lot to improve on the second round. Determined Japanese jumper launched herself into the air, and her skies touched the ground at 93.0 meters (0.1/0.0), which gave her a total score of 228.3, lead of the competition, and new hill record. Sarah Hendrickson's goal was medal, but it the task wasn't after first rounds decent jump: the defending Champion fought herself at 91.0 meters (-0.7/0.0), but she couldn't beat Takanashi, and took 2nd position. Spela Rogelj didn't cross 90.0 meters, as Slovenian flew 88.5 meters (-1.0/0.0), and her score of 217.9 points gave her 10th position in the official results. Val di Fiemme's bronze medalist, Jacqueline Seifriedsberger couldn't beat Takanashi nor Hendrickson. Austrian jumped 90.5 meters (-0.8/0.0), gave her current 3rd with 225.6 points. Eva Pinkelnig dropped from 5th to 8th, as she flew 89.5 meters (-0.3/0.0). Yuki Ito sat on the starting bench to wait for the flag to go down: Ito got the signal, gained her speed, and her flight didn't end until 93.0 meters (+0.2/0.0). Japanese jumper gathered 235.1 points, took the lead from Takanashi, and waited for three remaining jumps. Henrich had a chance to be the best North American jumper. Canadian jumped very well through the whole day: Taylor's last jump of the day went to 91.0 meters, but her unbalanced landing didn't give her much hope for high total score. 15.5, 15.5, 16.0, 16.0 and 16.0, gave her 47.5 points from style, and Canadian took 3rd place, but not in the official results. Carina Vogt moved herself to the starting position, pushed herself of the gate, gained top speed of 86.3 km/h (53,636 mph), spread her skies into the V-position, and German's skies touched the ground at 92.0 meters (+1.2/0.0). Vogt seemed pleased, and her beautiful landing would surely give her the lead: judges disagreed, and gave her only 5 x 17.5, 52.5 in total, and Carina's lead points were 236.9. Only one jumper was remaining. It seemed like Iraschko-Stolz got a pretty simple task to do: 89.5 meters would take Austrian to the second World Championship title. Iraschko-Stolz gained her speed, launched herself in the air, but the flight didn't look so good. She made a quick landing, before the green line, at 89.0 meters. I already stood up and raised my hands in the air as a sign of Vogt's gold medal. Iraschko-Stolz waited for her total score and finishing position: 3rd place, 233.8 points, and she became the first woman ever to get two individual medals of World Championships in Ladies' Ski Jumping. Carina Vogt couldn't believe the turn of events, which led her to be the first female jumper to win both Winter Olympic Games and World Championship's gold medal. German got multiple hugs as a congratulation! YES, YES, YES!!! JUST DET, PÅ DET SÄTTET = EXACTLY, THAT'S THE WAY!!!

TOP10:
1. Carina Vogt  GER   91.5 meters + 92.0 meters, 236.9 points
2. Yuki Ito  JPN   89.0 m + 93.0 m, 235.1 p
3. Daniela Iraschko-Stolz  AUT   92.5 m + 89.0 m, 233.8 p
4. Sara Takanashi  JPN   90.0 m + 93.0 m, 228.3 p
5. Taylor Henrich  CAN   90.5 m + 91.0 m, 227.9 p
6. Sarah Hendrickson  USA   87.0 m + 91.0 m, 226.4 p
7. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger  AUT   89.0 m + 90.5 m, 225.6 p
8. Eva Pinkelnig  AUT   89.0 m + 89.5 m, 223.8 p
9. Jessica Jerome  USA   86.5 m + 90.5 m, 219.4 p
10. Spela Rogelj  SLO   87.0 m + 88.5 m, 217.9 p

It was the most exciting ladies' ski jumping competition I've ever seen. Of course, World Championship title was at stake, and Carina Vogt was among the favourites, but overall competition was enjoyable to watch: 22 jumpers collected more than 200 points in total. There'll definetly more material from the competition on YouTube, so check the channel.

All times medal standings in FIS Ski World Championships, Ladies' Ski Jumping:
1. the United States of America   2  -  -
2. Germany   1  1  -
3. Austria   1  -  2
4. Japan   -  2  -
5. Italy   -  1  -
6. Norway  -  -  1
6. France  -  -  1

From previous medalists, Anette Sagen from Norway, and Lindsay Van from the United States, didn't even qualify into their World Ski Championships teams. The United States kept their lead, Germany got closer, and Austria has achieved 3 medals in 4 events.

World Championships aren't over yet for some of the ladies' Mixed team event is held 22nd of February, 2015. TOP7 jumpers, excluding Henrich and Hendrickson, are the biggest candidates to take the medals. Let's hope for another gold for Carina! Apologies for a bit late posting time, at it's more than 24 hours after the competition, but I was busy with recording YouTube videos, and watching other events from Falun. Thank you very much, and enjoy Carina Vogt's success: there'll be plenty more of it!!! :) Njut av den sista tävlingen!!!

Links:
Carina Vogt's World Champion's interview + TOP3 flower ceremony, German Anthem! YouTube!!!
Official results (PDF-file), World Ski Championships, 2015, Falun, Ladies' Ski Jumping
Results of the 1st round (PDF-file), World Ski Championships, 2015, Falun, Ladies' Ski Jumping
Trial round's results (PDF-file), World Ski Championships, 2015, Falun, Ladies' Ski Jumping

Carina Vogt, World Champion 2015, Falun!!! Ladies' Ski Jumping, interview + flower ceremony, video material!!! :)

Greetings!

This a re-upload of World Ski Championships, Ladies' Ski Jumping, from Falun, with both commentary and national anthem of Germany. I also included Carina Vogt's interview for FIS a World Champion! Check it out: Carina Vogt, World Champion, 2015, Falun!!! World Ski Championships, Ladies' Ski Jumping, Carina Vogt's interview + TOP3 jumpers' flower ceremony!! :)

Enjoy your day, and Carina's success!

P.S. There'll be Weekend Analyses of Ladies' Ski Jumping, Championship Edition, and don't forget to subscribe to the channel, where I'll upload the most important jumps of the competition. Enjoy! Njut av i dag! :)

World Ski World Championships, Falun, 2015, Ladies Ski Jumping, Normal Hill

Greetings!

First round of the competition has finished, here are the unofficial results:
1. D. Iraschko-Stolz. AUT  92.5 meters (+2.9/0.0)  122.9 points
2. Carina Vogt GER  91.5 meters (+2.2/0.0)   119.2 points
3. Taylor Henrich CAN  90.5 meters   115.5 points
4. Yuki Ito JPN   89.0 meters 113.9 points
...
8. Sarah Hendrickson USA   87.0 meters   111.6 points
9. Sara Takanashi  JPN   90.0 meters   111.4 points

Second round nas already begun, I believe in Vogt, she's the lady to take the gold!!! :)

Resan till Falun 2015 - Trip to Falun 2015: Part 4: It's here, destination Falun!

Greetings! Our trip near it's end, but let's enjoy this revolutionary post: it is a combination of both Weekend Analyses of Ladies' Ski Jumping, Championship Edition, and Weekend preview of Ladies' Ski Jumping, Championship edition! With a bit over an hour left until the beginning of the Grand Finale, we'll move swiftly to the events of Thursday, 19th of February, and speculate today's results.

Thursday, February 19th, 2015, Falun, Sweden (Training round + Qualification/Trail round)

According to the race program, ladies had a chance to perform two jumps. Due to difficult conditions, jury decided to cancel the trial round, and organize qualification as only event of the day for ladies. First ever qualification of history in World Ski Championships in ladies's ski jumping was started with Virag Voros' jump. 15-year-old Hungarian's flight came to an abrupt end, as she landed at 57.0 meters (-4.4/0.0), scored 30.6 points, and finished 34th. Ulrike Graessler was the first lady to cross 85.0 meters' line: 88.5 meters (-5.1/0.0), and total score of 103.4 points gave her 6th place in the results. Julia Clair took the lead from German by 5.1 points, with a jump of 88.5 meters (-1.0/0.0). Taylor Henrich finished in TOP10 in every Wenesday's training session. Canadian flew 92.0 meters (-1.8/0.0), collected 114.2 points, and was ranked 1st, 5.7 points ahead of Clair. Chiara Hoelzl jumped 88.0 meters (-3.1/0.0), and finished 5th in the results with 103.9 points. Next jumper, Juliane Seyfarth got 4th position as a birthday present, as Seyfarth landed at 89.0 meters (-2.2/0.0), and scored 106.8 points. Norwegian Maren Lundby flew into TOP3, with her jump of 89.0 meters (-1.3/0.0), Lundby scored 108.2 points in total. Wednesday's 6th on both training rounds, Katharina Althaus was ranked 7th with 102.6 points, having jumped 87.0 meters (-2.9/0.0). Last jumper to qualify, was Susanna Forsstroem from Finland.

All of TOP10 jumpers appeared on the hill. Best total score was achieved by Yuki Ito, who flew 89.5 meters (-0.8/0.0), with score of 58.2 points. Carina Vogt's result was also promising: German landed at 87.0 meters (+2.6/0.0), and finished 1.6 points behind Ito. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger finished 3rd by scoring 55.2 points, and a jump of 87.5 meters (+0.2/0.0). Daniela Iraschko-Stolz 87.5 meters (-0.3/0.0), Sara Takanashi 87.0 meters (+0.5/0.0) and Sarah Hendrickson 87.0 meters (+0.4/0.0) 4th, 5th and 6th within 0.3 points! In comparison to previously mentioned jumpers, Taylor Henrich, first ever winner of qualifying in the Championships, gathered from wind and jump 62.2 points in total, so Henrich was the best! On the other hand she had wind towards herself, unlike most of the TOP10 jumpers.

Judging by first four training rounds, there are several candidates to win the World Championship, and finish on podium: World Champion of 2011, and silver medalist from the Olympic Games 2014, Iraschko-Stolz has a lot of experience from pressurizing situations. The defending World Champion from Val di Fiemme, Sarah Hendrickson has improved jump by jump, and she's returning to her best shape. Olympic Champion from Sochi, Carina Vogt, has a habit to show her best in the competitions. Hopefully she'll do that again, but I'm sure that German will get a medal, Championship is also in her reach. Sara Takanashi won twice Overall World Cup standings, and took silver in Val di Fiemme, and has jumped very well in Falun, which makes her also another good canditate for the Championship. Taylor Henrich has shown incredible jumps in Falun, and the win of qualification might have given her some extra which might carry her on podium. Bronze medalist from Val di Fiemme, Jacqueline Seifriedsberger shall not be forgotten, and other possible surprises might be caused by Katharina Althaus, Jessica Jerome, Ulrike Graessler, and Maren Lundby.

Last trial round before the Grand Finale finished about 20 minutes ago, and results were:
1. Ito JPN 94.0 meters, 2 Iraschko-Stolz AUT, 3. Henrich CAN, 4. Hendrickson USA, 5. Taknashi JPN, 6. Vogt GER 91.0 meters, 7. Seifriedsberger AUT. Vogt lost a bit over 6 points to Ito, which means 3-3.5 meters depending on style points. My dream podium is: 1. Vogt GER, 2. Hendirkcson USA, 3. Henrich CAN. Based on the training results, more likely podium, and my eventual choice is: 1. Vogt GER, 2. Ito JPN, 3. Takanashi JPN. Hopefully Vogt will win, or at least finish on podium! Let's enjoy the finale! This is also the conclusion of our journey! It's time to say: Tack för allt! This means, thank you for everything, I wish you very enjoyable World Championships! Don't forget to follow, to find out the results, and detailed information about competitions! Njut av din dag!

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