Profiling the Flying Ladies: File 1.2 (her story, part 1): Carina Vogt - The beginning of the story - First FIS Continental Cup points, podium, victory

Greetings!

This is the second part of Carina Vogt's profile, which will take a closer look for Carina's Continental Cup years in ski jumping, season by season. Let's go straight into the story.





Carina Vogt's story (season by season):

2004/2005 Season:

The only available information from 2004/2005 season, is that 12-year-old Vogt participated in one FIS Race. It took place in Meinerzhagen in Germany. On 15th of August, 2005, Vogt was ranked 45th in her FIS debut. Competition was won by Slovenian Monika Pogladic, ahead of Lindsey Van from the United States of America and Austrian Daniela Iraschko (currently Iraschko-Stolz). All the 53 jumpers were allowed to jump twice. The youngest competitor was 7-year-old Vera Bagdaschwilli! During that time, FIS Cup was the second highest ranked Cup at the time, right behind Continental Cup.

2005/2006 Season:

There is no available information about Carina Vogt from this particular season. The reason isn't available from my sources.

2006/2007 Season:

Vogt made her Continental Cup debut in Klingenthal, Germany, August 6th, 2006. She finished in 31st, only one separated her from qualifying for the second round.
   In winter season, Vogt participated in eight Continental Cup competition, scoring points in all the competitions. She began by finishing in very high 7th, on 14th of January, 2007, in Villach Austria. Competition was won by another German, Ulrike Graessler, who was followed by Austrians Jacqueline Seifriedsberger and Daniela Iraschko. The next day, January 15th, in Italian Dobbiaco, Vogt finished in her highest position of the season, which was 6th place, Norwegian Anette Sagen took 1st. Vogt's lowest position was 26th in Baiersbronn, Germany, 14th of February, 2007. Three days later, she concluded her Continental Cup season with 12th place in Schonach, Germany. In overall standings, Vogt was 26th with 169 points, but there were 20 competitions during the season, which is a good result, as she didn't participate even in a half of the season! Sagen won with 1340 points, 2nd was Graessler with 1252 points, and Van finished in 3rd with 1045 points.
   One month after the competition in Schonach, FIS Ski Junior World Championships' medals were given in Tarvisio, Italy. On the first round, Vogt jumped 91.5 meters, and she took current 2nd with 115.5 points, one point behind leading Italian Lisa Demetz. In the first round's results, TOP2 kept their positions, and they were followed by Slovenian Maja Vtic, and Canadians Nata de Leeuw and Katie Willis. On the second round, Willis set pressure by flying 92.5 meters with great style. As Nata de Leeuw was disqualified on the second round, TOP3 jumpers were the only obstacle for Willis' gold. Vtic jumped 90.0 meters, and she lost by one point. Carina Vogt prepared for her jump: 90.0 meters with good style would be enough for the medal. Vogt launched herself into the air, but she landed at 88.5 meters, which was gave her current 3rd. Demetz kept her nerves, and took the gold medal a jump of 90.0 meters. TOP5: 1. Lisa Demetz ITA 229.5 points, 2. Katie Willis CAN 228.0 p, 3. Maja Vtic SLO 227.0 p, 4. Carina Vogt GER 223.5 p, 5. Juliane Seyfarth GER 208.5 p. It must have been a slight disappointment for Carina, but I'm sure that she knew that there were going to be lots of good results in this sort of events.

2007/2008 Season:

During summer part of the season, Vogt participated in four competitions. In Bischofsgruen, Germany, she was 10th. Three days later, August 15th, she landed on 11th place. Vogt achieved her best finishing position Bischofshofen, as she was 6th. She didn't qualify in her last summer season competition for the second round, because she finished in 45th. Those four competitions were in the Ladies Summer 4 Hill tournament, which Vogt concluded in 16th with 748.0 points. The tournament was won by Iraschko with 957.4 points.
   Vogt jumped in six competitions during winter in Continental Cup. In Notodden, Norway, she was 8th and 10th. Over a month later, 23rd of January, 2008, she finished in 27th in Dobbiaco, Italy. Vogt's last three competitions were in Germany. In the first competition in Breitenberg, she took positions 17 and 20.
   Vogt's final competition of the season began in a good way, as she flew 85.5 meters on Baierbronn's HS90 hill, which gave her 113.5 points, and 7th place after the first round. The first place was shared by Canadian Atsuko Tanaka and Austrian Jacqueline Seifriedsberger with 120.0 points. Sagen was 3rd, only one point behind the leaders. On the second round, Vogt sat on the starting bench, pushed herself, she gained speed of 85.7 km/h (53.263 mph), launched herself into the air, and she landed at 89.5 meters with great style. She took the lead with 236.0 points, and they were enough to keep her in the lead until the TOP3 of the first round. Continental Cup leader, Anette Sagen 89.0 meters, and despite Norwegian's worse points from style, Vogt had to give up the first position. Atsuko Tanaka flew over the HS line, 91.0 meters, and she took the lead from Sagen. Seifriedsberger couldn't keep the lead, as Austrian jumped 84.0 meters and her total score of 231.0 gave her 4th place in the overall results. Tanaka won, Sagen was 2nd and Vogt took her first ever podium in ladies' Continental Cup thanks to the best score of the second round, 122.5 points.
   In the Continental Cup, Vogt was 18th with 237 points. The overall standings were topped once again by Sagen with 1400 points. Iraschko was 2nd with 928 points, and Seifriedsberger came in 3rd with 801 points. There were 16 competitions during the season, which also showed Vogt's strong form. With a very positive podium, Vogt could look forward to the next season with a nice smile on her face.

2008/2009 Season:

Unfortunately, ski jumpers seem to have syndrome: after a good season, comes a more difficult one; Vogt didn't avoid the syndrome. In summer, she participated in eight Continental Cup competitions. Vogt's finishing positions were: 16th, 24th, 23rd, 11th, 23rd, 21st 24th and 40th. Her best competition was in Bischofshofen, Austria, on 17th of August, and the worst one was on 27th of September in Oberstdorf, Germany.
   Winter season went a bit better, but she finished only once in TOP10 during her six starts. On 10th of January, 2009, Vogt was 23rd, and the next day 30th in Schonach. One week later, she couldn't her podium from the previous season in Baiersbronn, as she finished in 24th and 18th. She participated in two competitions on HS100 hill in Notodden, Norway. First of the competitions, was her best one in the season, judging by the finishing position. After the first round, Vogt was 9th with a jump of 84.5 meters. On the second round, she landed at 84.0 meters, and she finished in equal 10th with Jessica Jerome. The next day, February 14th, 2009, Vogt took 12th place. It must be noted, that there were only 25 competiors in Notodden, whereas Baiersbronn had 39.
   With 77 points, Carina Vogt was 37th in Continental Cup's overall standings. Anette Sagen was the best with 1091 points, Daniela Iraschko 2nd with 932, and with 927 points, 3rd place was taken by Ulrike Graessler. Vogt had a tough season behind herself, and it was time to climb closer to the top.

2009/2010 Season:

Summer season in Continental Cup was quite similar compared to the previous one. Vogt had the best competition on 8th of August, as she finished in 14th in Bischofsgruen, Germany. In Oberwiesenthal, on 14th of Augutst, she finished in 37th. In the other competitions, Vogt was ranked 26th, 21st and 20th. All of the competitions were held between 8th and 15th of August, 2009.
   Vogt joined winter's Continental Cup in Baiersbronn Germany. As she hadn't competed in nearly five months, her shape was unknown. With number 20, Vogt flew incredibly 94.0 meters, 4 meters over the Hill Size line! She got from style points between 15.0 and 16.0. Her score was 125.0, and she took the lead. She kept the lead, until Anette Sagen's jump. Norwegian flew 93.5 meters, but her points on style were between 16.0 and 17.0 points. Sagen was leading after the first round with 131.0 points, followed by Vogt and another Norwegian, Line Jahr, who also got 125.0 points. Current Continental Cup leader Daniela Iraschko flew 91.0 meters on the second round, and she started her climb from 6th place. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger and Jessica Jerome couldn't beat Iraschko. Vogt sat on the starting bench. She pushed herself, gained the highest speed of the round, 84.8 km/h (52,704 mph). Vogt launched herself into the air, and her skis touched the ground at 88.5 meters. Computers calculated for a while, and total score of 245.0 appeared on the screen, which meant that Vogt got the lead by 0.5 points! Vogt's first victory was in hands of two Norwegians. Jahr didn't even cross the K-point, as she landed at 84.0 meters. Sagen fought for meters, but 85.5 meters didn't seem to be enough. As Norwegian got worse points from style, it was for sure! Carina Vogt won her first ever Continental Cup competition in Baiersbronn, on 2nd of February, 2010!!! German was extremely happy and celebrating! TOP6: 1. Vogt GER 245.0 points, 2. Iraschko AUT 244.5 p, 3. Sagen NOR 242.5 p, 4. Jahr NOR 235.5 p, 5. Runggaldier ITA 226.5 p, 6. Johnson USA 225.5 p.

Happy podium from the left: Daniela Iraschko, Carina Vogt, Anette Sagen. baiersbronn, Germany. 2nd of February, 2012.

   The next day Vogt finished in 8th, as Iraschko took the win. Three days later, ladies had arrived in Schonach, another German skiing center. In the first competition, Vogt was equal third with Sagen after the first round with 109.5 points, 16.5 points behind leading Iraschko, Ulrike Graessler was 2nd. On the second round, Vogt landed at 94.0 meters, only two meters before the Hill Size line. Sagen flew 92.0 meters, which wasn't enough to beat the German. Graessler tried to challenge her team mate, but 89.0 meters wasn't enough to keep her even in TOP4. Iraschko jumped 90.0 meters, but it was enough for the win, even though Vogt scored the biggest amount of points on the second round. These results ment the second podium in four days, and Carina's third one in Continental Cup! TOP5: 1. Iraschko AUT 241.0, 2. Vogt GER 229.0, 3. Sagen NOR 226.0, 4. Seyfarth GER 221.0, 5. Graessler GER 220.5. The next competition was in Schonach, but it was held 17 days later than the previous one, because two competitions in Braunlage were cancelled. Vogt did good job, by jumping two solid jumps and finishing in 6th.
   The next event for Vogt was FIS Ski Junior World Championships in Hinterzarten, Germany. Despite her great position in overall Continental Cup at the moment, she was given starting number 9 among 41 athletes. Obviously, it didn't do good for Vogt, as she jumped 95.0 meters and her score of 111.0 points was enough only for 10th place after the first round. TOP5 jumpers on the results had numbers 21, 33, 37, 32 and 26. It's a sign of better conditions, but there is a possibility that Vogt didn't pull of a perfect jump. On the second round, Carina topped the speed rankings with 91.9 km/h (57,116 mph), and she landed at 103.0 meters. Swiss Bigna Windmueller succeeded better with her landing, as she flew 100.5 meters and overtook Vogt by 1.5 points. Sara Takanashi, Anna Ruprecht, Melanie Faisst and Juliane Seyfarth failed one after another to beat the TOP2. Sarah Hendrickson kept her nerves, and took the lead from Swiss jumper by 8.0 points by jumping 97.5 meters. When Coline Mattel flew 101.0 meters, Vogt's medal chances were gone. Italian Elena Runggaldier took the gold: Italian jumped 106.5 and 102.0 meters, and collected 267.5 points, 9.5 more than Mattel. TOP6: 1. Elena Runggaldier ITA 267.5, 2. Coline Mattel FRA 258.0, 3. Sarah Hendrickson USA 249.5, 4. Bigna Windmueller SUI 241.5, 5. Carina Vogt GER 240.0, 6. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger AUT 239.5. Vogt was probably disappointed, but she still had right to participate in two more FIS Ski Junior World Championships.
   A week after the Junior World Championships, Vogt returned to the Continental Cup. She finished 9th and 21 st in Ljubno. A week after that she was 14th in the first competition in Villach, but the second one lasted only one round for her, as she jumped on HS98 hill 60.5 meters, which brought her 47th position in the race. Last four competitions were held at the beginning of March. On 1st and 2nd of March, Vogt finished in 5th in Zao, Japan. On 6th and 7th of March, the final competitions were held in Zakopane. In the first one, Vogt was 15th, and she concluded her season with a 10th place in the competition.
   Generally speaking, the season was a success: two podiums, first Continental Cup win, and 8th place in the overall standings with 441 points (11 starts of 18 possible!). The only minor minus were the FIS Ski Junior World Championships, but she still had time. Vogt had a great season behind herself.

2010/2011 Season:

For some unkown reason, Vogt couldn't participate during the summer. From this particular season, she has only ten results. All of them are from the winter season, which was also the first season, where wind and gate compensation were included to the rules.
   Her first competition was the best one in Continental Cup, considering the finishing position. After the first round, Vogt was 15th with a jump of 84.5 meters (+6.0/0.0) and 94.5 points. On the second round she improved by flying 89,5 meters (+4.3/0.0) and gathering 199.3 points in total, which gave her 11th place in the official results. In two competitions in Hinterzarten, Vogt was 15th and 17th. In Braunlage, eight days after the competition in Schonach, she equaled her season's best. The next day she was 13th.
   Carina took a pause from Continental Cup, as she was chosen to represent Germany in Junior World Championships. She was still fighting for her first medal ever. Vogt had the last number, 51. She topped the speed rankings with 88.4 km/h (54.941 mph), but something didn't go right: 92.5 meters with a bad landing gave her again 10th position after the first round, and she was 11.5 points from the medal. On the second round she was the fastest, 87.8 km/h (54.568 mph), but she didn't fly more than 92.5 meters. 227.0 points in total brought her 8th place, which probably wasn't 18-year-old jumper's goal. Coline Mattel took the gold with 257.5 points, Slovenian Spela Rogelj was 2nd with 254.0 points, and bronze went to Japan with Yuki Ito and 252.0 points.
   One and a half week later, Vogt was back in the Continental Cup, and took 15th and 20th in Brotterode, Germany. She concluded her season in Ramsau, finishing 16th and 17th. In the overall Continental Cup standings, Vogt collected 154 points in 9 of 22 competitions. Not bad. This season was another tough one, but new chances would be given, as for the next season FIS decided to organize first ever Ladies World Cup season!

In the last part, we will catch up with Carina Vogt's World Cup history so far, and her greatest achievements. Don't forget to check it out, as it will be released during tomorrow, 20th of March, 2015. Enjoy your day, and thank you for reading! :)

Links (sources and social media):
Previous part of Vogt's profile (basic information)
Next part of Vogt's profile (beginning of the World Cup career)
Picture used in the beginning
Carina Vogt's biography on fis-ski.com
Wikipedia article about Carina Vogt (German)
Carina Vogt's best Continental Cup season, 2009/2010, (PDF-file), fis-ski.com
Carina Vogt's fanpage on Facebook

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)

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

Greetings!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Greetings!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Greetings!

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Greetings!

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

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

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

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

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

Greetings!

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

Enjoy your day, and Carina's success!

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

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

Greetings!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Resan till Falun 2015 - Trip to Falun 2015: Part 1: It all begins in Liberec

Greetings! It's the World Championship week, which gave me an idea for a mini-text-series. We'll go through FIS World Championships' history of Ladies' Ski Jumping. Without unnecessarily long introduction, let's return to year 2009.

Liberec, Czech Republic. February 19th, 2009. It's the day of first ever FIS World Championship training rounds in Ladies' Ski Jumping. Three rounds of jumps are held in snowy conditions. Since there were no gate nor wind factors, training rounds results were based on flown distance by the jumper. FIS statistics are a bit confusing, but it seems like the first jump was performed by Lucie Mikova, from Czech Republic. Her jump's distance was 38.0 meters. First training round's TOP3 by distance: 1. Daniela Iraschko (currently Iraschko-Stolz) AUT 97.5 meters, 2. Magdalena Schnurr GER 93.0 meters, 3. Anette Sagen NOR 91.5 meters. Wind was presented in the results list: on the first round it was towards the hill between 0.3 m/s and 2.8 m/s. On the second round winds strength didn't change much: 0.2 m/s to 2.9 m/s towards the hill. Anna Haefele from Germany jumped the longest distance of the second training round, 95.5 meters. She was followed by Anette Sagen, 94.5 meters, and Daniela Iraschko with 92.5 meters. Iraschko returned to the 1st position on the last training round, flying 101.0 meters. Anette Sagen was like glued: 2nd place, having jumped 97.5 meters. Canadian Nata de Leeuw finished 3rd, with a jump of 95.0 meters. Wind got even stronger, from 0.7 m/s to 3.9 m/s towards! Iraschko and Sagen came across as sure medalists, and candidates for the win.

Friday, 20 th of February, 2009. Competition day began with a trial round, because 39 jumpers had signed up and 36 of them turned up for the competition, there was no need for qualifying. Daniela Iraschko didn't seem to give up on her leader's position: Austrian jumped 98.5 meters. She was followed once again by Anette Sagen, who landed at 92.5 meters. Third longest jump was performed by Alissa Johnson from the United States of America. She flew 91.0 meters. Wind altered between 0.0 m/s and 2.4 m/s towards the hill. Iraschko's and Sagen's dominance seemed to continue,

With some snow falling from the sky, everything was ready for the first ever Ladies' World Championship contest in ski jumping. The first jumper was Norwegian Maren Lundby. 14-year-old young lady flew 73.5 meters, received 73.5 points, which gave her 19th position after the first round. Coline Mattel with number 18 got great applause from the audience. She was the first jumper of the round to cross 80 meters, and her jump didn't land until 90.0 meters. 112.5 points kep her in the lead for quite a while. First serious threat for French jumper's lead was Magdalena Schnurr. German achieved 89.0 meters, and took 2nd place 1.5 points behind Mattel. Second training round's best jumper Anna Haefele flew 88.5 meters on her first jump in the competition, gathering 109.5 ponits, which was enough for 7th place after the first round. Dominance in training jumps didn't give Iraschko any major advantage at least on the first round: Austrian's jump ended at 89.0 meters, and her 112.0 points were enough to give her equaled 4th place on the result list. German Ulrike Graessler sat on the starting bench right after Iraschko. Graessler launched herself into the air and didn't land until 93.5 meter. She collected 120.0 points, and took the lead. Lindsey Van from the United States equaled Iraschko in both distance and points. Anette Sagen was the last jumped with number 36 on her chest. She landed at the same point as Graessler, but she was 2nd 1.5 points behind the leading German, due to her lower points from style. TOP6: 1. Graessler GER 120.0, 2. Sagen NOR 118.5, 3. Mattel FRA 112.5, 4. Van USA & Iraschko AUT 112.0, 6. Schnurr GER 111.0. Wind conditions were tricky once again, wind was towards the hill between 0.1 m/s and 2.7 m/s.

Wind conditions got a bit more equal, but it still altered from 0.4 m/s to 2.4 m/s towards the hill. Judges decided to raise the gate from 24 to 25. There were two jumpers on 30th position. Second round was started by Julia Kykkaenen. Finn flew 12.5 meters further than on the first round, landing at 72.0 meters. She got from 30th place to 26th with her total score of 113.0 points. Sarah Hendrikcson equaled Kykkaenen's points on the first round, but jumper from the United States of America lost the battle by jumping 69.5 meters. Hendrickson finished 29th in the results. Second round's biggest gain was made by Helena Olsson Smeby. Norwegian improved her position from 27th to 16th by jumping 87.0 meters. Her total score was 160.0 points.

TOP10 was started by Jessica Jerome. Hendrickson's team mate flew 91.0 meters, which gave her 207.0 points in total and 6th place in the results. Magdalena Schnurr had to give her position to Jerome, as German landed as early as at the 81.5 meters' line. Daniela Iraschko wanted to repeat one of her excellent training jumps. She gained speed of 90.2 km/h (56,060 mph), and Austrian's jump landed at 91.0 meters. Iraschko collected 228.0 points, but it seemed like tension blocked her best jumps. Lindsey Van from the United States wanted to finish at least as the best North American jumper's speed was 89.5 km/h (55,625 mph), but lower speed didn't stop her from jumping the longest jump of the competition: 97.5 meters! Van's points for style altered between 18.5 and 19.0. Van collected 243.0 points, and took the lead from Iraschko by 15.0 points. French jumper Mattel was under a lot of pressure, but her performance didn't suffer much: 87.5 meters, and total score of 220.5 gave her current 3rd place. Not bad for a 13-year-old!!! Anette Sagen wanted to change her fate for being second round after round. Norwegian had 6.5 points' advantage after first round, which meant she needed a jump around 95.0 meters. Sagen's speed was 90.3 km/h (56.122 mph) and with the speed she carried her jump until 94.0 meters. Norwegian got from style between 16.5 and 18.0 points. It wasn't enough, and she took second place, 4.5 ponits behind Van. Ulrike Graessler was only one at the top. She wanted to take her first World Championship gold medal, but it required a jump around 94.0 meters. Graessler did what she could, but 93.0 meters. Style points between 17.0 and 18.0 points were enough to brake Sagen's 'curse' of being second. In the end Van won, Graessler took silver, Sagen bronze, Iraschko was left without a medal, and phenomenal 13-year-old Mattel finished 5th!!!

TOP 10:
1. Lindsey Van USA 89.0 meters + 97.5 meters, 243.0 points
2. Ulrike Graessler GER 93.5 m + 93.0 m, 239.0 p
3. Anette Sagen NOR 93.5 m + 94.0 m, 238.5 p
4. Daniela Iraschko AUT 89.0 m + 91.0 m, 228.0 p
5. Coline Mattel FRA 90.0 m + 87.5 m, 220.5 p
6. Jessica Jerome USA 80.5 m + 91.0 m, 207.0 p
7. Magdalena Schnurr GER 89.0 m + 81.5 m, 205.0 p
8. Anna Haefele GER 88.5 m + 82.5 m, 204.5 p
9. Line Jahr NOR 88.0 m + 81.5 m, 201.0 p
10. Ayumi Watase JPN 76.5 m + 90.5 m, 197.5 p

The first ever World Championship competition in Ladies' Ski Jumping was done. There were lot's of young jumpers, Coline Mattel as 13-year-old was the youngest. There were also two jumpers from such an exotic country as the Netherlands: Wendy Vuik (23rd), and Lara Thomae (31st). The first competition was such an event that it would get more followers and encourage more ladies to take their skies, and get all the way up to the hill, and start preparing for the future competitions.

All time medal standings, FIS World Championship Ladies' Ski Jumping:
1. the United States of America   1 - -
2. Germany    - 1 -
3. Norway    - - 1

This was the first part of our interesting Resan till Falun 2015 - series. Hopefully you enjoyed it, and will look forward to the next part, Oslo Norway. Enjoy your day! :)

Links:
The official results (PDF-file), World Championships, Ladies' Ski Jumping, Liberec, 2009
Results of the 1st round (PDF-file), World Championships, Ladies' Ski Jumping, Liberec, 2009
Trial Round results (PDF-file), World Championships, Ladies' Ski Jumping, Liberec, 2009
Training rounds' results (PDF-file), World Championship, Ladies' Ski Jumping, Liberec, 2009
Unofficial 1st training round's results (PDF-file), World Championship, Ladies' Ski Jumping, Liberec, 2009
Detailed information about Liberec' HS100