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

Greetings!

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

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

The squads in the numeral order:

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

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

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

First round:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Second round:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Historical Weekend Analyses of Ladies' Ski Jumping: Chapter 4: Oslo's finale - Takanashi's hat-trick completed

Greetings!

It's time for the last Weekend Analyses of Ladies' Ski Jumping for 2014/2015 season. Almost a month of waiting came to it's end yesterday. This time I won't go through all the sessions detail by detail. Short summary of two training rounds will lead us to the trial round, and the final competition.

Friday, March 13th, 2015, Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway (Training rounds + Trial round + Finale) :

Two training rounds were held on Friday morning. Sunny weather, and mostly good wind from towards gave great conditions for practice jumps. Starting gate was set altered from position 28 to 30, and 29, and then back to 30. There were 32 competitiors, as the host country, Norway, had a right to give two of their jumpers a chance to participate, 30 remaining competitiors earned the right by being in TOP30 after 12 competitions.
     First round's jumps weren't on the highest level: longest jump was 122.5 meters (-13.7/0.0) by Taylor Henrich, but the shortest jump was 89.0 meters (-10.1/0.0) by Anna Odine Stroem. The most interesting battles were for World Cup's 1st and 3rd place. In the battle for 3rd position, Spela Rogelj jumped 112.0 meters (-3.2/+3.3), while Carina Vogt flew 108.5 meters (-0.2/+3.3). Sara Takanashi landed at 116.0 meters (-3.7/+3.3), and Daniela Iraschko-Stolz 115.5 meters (-1.3/+3.7). Yuki Ito was the best jumper of the round: 117.5 meters (-2.5/+3.3), and a total score of 56.3. Iraschko-Stolz was 2nd, 53.9, followed surprisingly by a Finn Julia Kykkaenen, with a score of 53.8 points. Julia Clair was 4th, Sara Takanashi 5th, Taylor Henrich 6th, Spela Rogelj 8th and Carina Vogt 14th.
   On the second round, some of the jumpers had to manage a slight wind from behind. Round's longest jump, and the best points belonged to Slovenian Maja Vtic: 128.0 meters (-11.8/0.0) and 62.6 points. In contrast, Katja Pozun flew only 96.5 meters (+1.4/0.0). Rogelj jumped better than Vogt: Rogelj flew 120.0 meters (-10.5/0.0), and Vogt landed at 117.0 meters (-14.5/0.0). Rogelj's score 49.5 were enough for 7th place, Vogt was 16th with 40.1 points. Takanashi came in second: 127.0 meters (-12.9/0.0), and 59.7 points gave her 2nd place. Iraschko-Stolz flew 122.5 meters (-10.1/0.0), scored 54.4, and finished in 4th. 3rd position was achieved by Jacqueline Seifriedsberger, who jumped 123.5 meters (-7.5/0.0), and got 58.8 points. Takanashi, and Iraschko-Stolz seemed strong.

Training rounds' full results (PDF-file), Holmenkollen HS134, Oslo

Trial round [Gate 31, gate 32 (-3.3 points), gate 30 (+3.3 p), Wind: 0.65 m/s from behind (+7.8 p) to 0.74 m/s towards (-7.3 p)] :

Evening's sky was clear, as ladies prepared for their last trial round of the season. All the jumps were above 95.0 meters, shortest jump belonged to Anna Odine Stroem: 95.5 meters (+7.8/0.0), but the worst wind conditions explain partly the result. The first jumper over 120.0 meters was Taylor Henrich, who landed at 120.5 meters (+3.2/0.0). Norwegians Maren Lundby jumped 120.5 meters (-1.1/-3.3), and Line Jahr's flight ended at 120.0 meters (-4.3/-3.3). Longest jump of the round was perfomed by Sarah Hendrickson: Hendrickson flew 128.0 meters (-3.0/-3.3), and the total score of 68.1 brought her the 1st position. Maja Vtic kept proving her strong form: Slovenian jumped 118.5 meters (+1.2/+3.3), and came in 4th. Yuki Ito finished 3rd, as Japanese jumper flew 116.5 meters (+6.6/+3.3). Spela Rogelj also landed at 116.5 meters (+3.4/+3.3), and gathered 60.4 points. Carina Vogt improved from the morning, as the German flew 118.0 meters (+3.6/+3.3), scored 64.2 points, and finished 2nd. Sara Takanashi got into a bit more challenging conditions, but she managed to fly 115.0 meters (+6.0/+3.3). Daniela Iraschko-Stolz jumped 116.0 meters (+5.4/+3.3), and total score of 61.5 brought Austrian 5th place. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger didn't participate.
TOP8: 1. Hendrickson USA 68.1, 2. Vogt GER 64.2, 3. Ito JPN 63.6, 4. Vtic SLO 61.8, 5. Iraschko-Stolz AUT 61.5, 6. Henrich CAN 60.8, 7. Rogelj SLO 60.4, 8. Takanashi JPN 60.3

Trial round's full results (PDF-file), Holmenkollen, Oslo

Finale, final competition:

Based on the training rounds and trail round, there were many candidates for the win: Sara Takanashi, Daniela Iraschko-Stolz, Maja Vtic, Yuki Ito, Taylor Henrich, Sarah Hendrickson, and perhaps Carina Vogt. There was also room for surprises: Julia Kykkaenen, Julia Clair, and Jacqueline Seifriedsberger could mix the TOP6 order, if everything went the way they hope. Now, let's go to the first round.

First round [Gate 32, Wind: 0.50 m/s from behind (+6.0 p)  to 0.13 m/s towards (-1.3 p)] :

Skies remained clear, as the final competition of the season was about to begin. Wind didn't alter much, but some jumpers got slight wind towards. Number 1 belonged to Anna Odine Stroem. Young lady from Alta, Norway, jumped 98.0 meters (+4.2/0.0), and her total score of 68.6 was unlikely to bring her a chance for the second round. Julia Kykkaenen proved that her 3rd position on the first training round wasn't purely luck: she flew 119.5 meters (+1.4/0.0), and scored 112.0 points. Finn jumped with number 6, and she kept her lead, until Jessica Jerome. Jumper from the United States of America landed at 120.5 meters (+4.0/0.0), and gathered 114.4 in total. Jerome couldn't enjoy for her 1st place for long: Canadian Taylor Henrich, launched herself into the air, and her skies didn't touch the ground until she had flown 127.0 meters (+1.0/0.0). She beat Jerome by 10.2 points. Austrian Chiara Hoelzl joined Stroem's under 100 meters' club: 98.5 meters (+1.4/0.0), and she didn't qualify for the second round, with a score of 70.2; last jumper to qualify was Yuka Seto, who jumped 101.0 meters (-1.1/0.0), and scored 71.7 points. It was quite surprising, since Jerome's start number was 15, Henrich's 16, and Hoelzl's 17. After 22 jumpers of 32, Henrich was leading, followed by Jerome and Kykkaenen.

Sarah Hendrickson started TOP10 group: she was the lady to beat Henrich: Hendrickson flew 126.5 meters (+3.2/0.0) and gathered 126.4 points. Nita Englund wasn't even close to her team mate Hendrickson, as Englund landed as early as at 108.0 meters (+1.1/0.0), and was 25th after the first round. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger jumped 118.5 meters (+3.4/0.0), and took current 4th. Maja Vtic flew once again over the K-point: 123.5 meters (+3.7/0.0), and her total score of 122.5 got her 4th place after the first round. Eva Pinkelnig was 13th with a jump of 118.5 meters (+2.6/0.0). Yuki Ito had the strongest average wind from behind, and Japanese jumper landed at 117.5 meters (+6.0/0.0). Ito scored 114.5 points. Spela Rogelj had to take current 1st place to have some sort of hope to take bronze in the World Cup. Slovenian jumped 119.5 meters (+3.8/0.0), and she took current 7th. Carina Vogt's task got a bit easier: Vogt topped the lists with a speed of 94.1 km/h (58,484 mph), and she crossed 120.0 meters for the first time, since German flew 125.0 meters (+0.7/0.0). Vogt scored 121.2 in total, and was current 4th. Sara Takanashi had even bigger mission: to complete it, she couldn't be lower than 1st: she did her part by flying 128.0 meters (+5.9/0.0), and scoring 131.3 points. Daniela Iraschko-Stolz had to finish in TOP20, and it required from her on the first round higher score than 93.1 points. It was easy for Iraschko-Stolz, who got the biggest minus points from compensation: Austrian jumped 125.0 meters (-1.3/0.0), and scored 114.2, which was enough for 8th position. Anna Odine Stroem and Chiara Hoelzl didn't qualify, and TOP3 was Takanashi, Hendrickson and Henrich.
TOP15: 1. Takanashi JPN 131.3, 2. Hendrickson USA 126.4, 3. Henrich CAN 124.6, 4. Vtic SLO 122.5, 5.  Vogt GER 121.2, 6. Ito JPN 114.5, 7. Jerome USA 114.4, 8. Iraschko-Stolz AUT 114.2, 9. Seifriedsberger AUT 112.7, 10. Rogelj SLO 112.1, 11. Kykkaenen FIN 112.0, 12. Lundby NOR 111.9, 13. Pinkelnig AUT 109.9, 14. Avvakumova RUS 104.7, 15. Graessler GER 98.4

Second round, final round of the season [Gate 32, Wind: 0.67 m/s from behind (+8.0) to 0.04 m/s towards (-0.4)] :

The final round of the 2014/2015 season in Ladies' Ski Jumping World Cup was held under clear skies, and begun by Yuka Seto. Seto jumped 100.5 meters (+2.2/0.0), and Japanese jumper's total score of 142.8 gave her 30th place in the results, and it was 11.5 points more than Sara Takanashi had collected on the first round! Sofia Tikhonova got a small advantage from the best conditions of the round: 114.5 meters (-0.4/0.0), and Russian got from 21st to 18th. The biggest climb of the round was five positions, and for the crowd's, it was done by Line Jahr. Norwegian flew 115.0 meters (+2.6/0.0), and scored 198.6 points, which got her from 20th to 15th in the results. Irina Avvakumova took the lead from Jahr: Russian flew 117.5 meters (+7.6/0.0), and gathered 217.8 points. She didn't enjoy the lead for long, as Pinkelnig had the worst conditions of the round, she landed at 117.5 meters (+8.0/0.0), and her total score was 221.4 points. Lundby couldn't beat the Austrian: Lundby jumped 115.0 meters (+4.6/0.0), scored 217.5 points, and finished in 13th as the best Norwegian of the day. Julia Kykkaenen finished her season in a good style: 118.0 meters (+4.1/0.0), and her score of 222.2 gave her the current lead. After 20 jumpers, TOP3 was: Kykkaenen, Pinkelnig and Avvakumova.

TOP10 started with Spela Rogelj's jump. Slovenian needed a miracle to finish in TOP3 in this season's World Cup: Rogelj did her best, but 118.0 meters (+3.7/0.0) gave her 'only 2.0 points lead over Kykkaenen, whcih wasn't quite enough to make a major climb. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger dropped to 14th, because Austrian landed at 112.5 meters (+4.1/0.0), and scored 212.3 points in total. Iraschko-Stolz prepared for her final jump of the season. Austrian had to jump about 70 meters to secure her World Cup victory: she flew 123.0 meters (+5.4/0.0), and got 237.0 points in total: Austrian won the Overall World Cup. Jerome didn't stay in TOP10: 28-year-old jumper jumped 116.0 meters (+5.3/0.0), and 220.5 points brought 11th position in the results. Ito flew 117.0 meters (+4.0/0.0), and scored 24.6, which dropped Rogelj to current 3rd. Vogt prepared for her last World Cup jump of the season: Vogt gained 94.0 km/h (58,421 mph), which equaled Avvakumova's result. German flew in the air, and her skies didn't touch the ground until 121.0 meters (+4.0/0.0). Vogt for the result, got 239.5 points! She took the lead, secured 3rd place in the World Cup, and now it was all about waiting, whether Vogt be on podium. Vtic did decent job, as Slovenian jumped 118.5 meters (+4.8/0.0), and finished sixth in the final competition. Henrich didn't waist her opportunity for podium: Canadian flew 123.5 meters (+6.0/0.0), and Henrich took the lead by 10.9 points. Hendrickson wanted to her first win since March 2013, which was also from Holmenkollen. Jumper from the United States pushed herself of the starting bench, she equaled Vogt and Avvakumova in speed, and Hendrickson launched herself into the air. Hendrickson achieved the longest distance of the competition: 128.5 meters (+4.4/0.0) gave her 130.7 points, and 257.1 in total. Hendrickson was leading, and Takanashi didn't have an easy task. Japanese jumper didn't have much pressure, as the World Cup dream was gone, but Takanashi completed her hat-trick by jumping 127.0 meters (+6.4/0.0), scoring 132.5 points, the highest amount on the second round as well. Takanashi won by 6.7 points.
TOP15: 1. Takanashi JPN 263.8, 2. Hendrickson USA 257.1, 3. Henrich CAN 250.4, 4. Vogt GER 239.5, 5. Iraschko-Stolz AUT 237.0, 6. Vtic SLO 233.6, 7. Ito JPN 224.6, 8. Rogelj SLO 224.2, 9. Kykkaenen FIN 222.2, 10. Pinkelnig AUT 221.4, 11. Jerome USA 220.5, 12. Avvakumova RUS 217.8, 13. Lundby NOR 217.5, 14. Seifriedsberger AUT 212.3, 15. Jahr NOR 198.6

It was quite an exciting competition, and the results ment slight changes in TOP20 of Ladies' Ski Jumping World Cup standings (Final Standings) :
1. Daniela Iraschko-Stolz   AUT   1007 poinys
2. Sara Takanashi   JPN   973 p   -34 p
3. Carina Vogt   GER   672 p   -335 p
4. Spela Rogelj   SLO   581 p   -426 p
5. Yuki Ito   JPN   434 p   -573 p
6. Maja Vtic   SLO   418 p   -589 p
7. Eva Pinkelnig   AUT   408 p   -599p
8. Sarah Hendrickson   USA   399 p   -608 p
9. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger   AUT   370 p   -637 p
10. Nita Englund   USA   332 p   -675 p
11. Irina Avvakumova   RUS   315 p   -692 p
12. Line Jahr   NOR   306 p   -701 p
13. Katharina Althaus   GER   299 p   -708 p
14. Maren Lundby   NOR   289 p   -718 p
15. Taylor Henrich   CAN   230 p   -777 p
16. Juliane Seyfarth   GER   222p   -785 p
17. Chiara Hoelzl   AUT   185 p   -822 p
18. Jessica Jerome   USA   168 p   -839 p
19. Sofia Tikhonova   RUS   154 p   -853 p
20. Julia Clair   FRA   151 p   -856 p

Iraschko-Stolz took deserved Overall World Cup victory, by winning 5 competitions, but especially finishing only three times outside the podium: 4th in Sapporo, 8th in Zao and 5th in Oslo. Sara Takanashi was the best jumper by winning 6 competitions, but finishing in 7th in Zao, 5th in Oberstdorf, and 8th in Hinzenbach, was too much. Carina Vogt took two victories this season, first victory ever, and she finished 6 times on podium, but she was absent from Ljubno. Also Spela Rogelj was capable of winning a competition, the season opener in Lillerhammer. There were 13 competitions, but Iraschko-Stolz and Takanashi were equally first in Ljubno's second competition. Hendrickson finished the season with a train of podiums, but win would have raised her on 6th place in the standings. Other jumpers, who finished on podium during the season, were Englung, Avvakumova, Lundby, Henrich and Hoelzl. Henrich participated only in 5 competitions due to financial restrictions, which gives her average of 46 points/competition: that's admirable!

In conclusion, I must say that it was quite a long season, as was also my last Weekend Analyses. What makes it historical, is that this is the last post of Carina Vogt's Fanclub: don't worry, this blog will continue its functioning under a new name, starting on Monday, 16th of March. Thank you for this World Cup season, I apologize for this horrifically long post, but there were so many things to take into account. Hopefully you enjoyed the reports, and will look forward to the new phase of this blog. Click the Follow-button, to find out about this blog's future, it will be very much appreciated: you won't miss the latest action from the world of ladies ski jumping! Enjoy your day! :)

Final World Cup Standings Individual, Ladies Ski Jumping 2014/2015 (PDF-file)
Final World Cup Standings Nations, Ladies Ski Jumping 2014/2015 (PDF-file)
The official results of the 2014/2015 finale, FIS Ladies Ski Jumping, Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway (PDF-file)
Results after the first round, FIS Ladies Ski Jumping, March 13th, 2015, Holmenkollen, Oslo Norway (PDF-file)

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

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 3: Val di Fiemme's light snowfall brings no surprises

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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