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 2.2: Small changes on the top

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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