Junior World Championships 2010 in Hinterzarten opened

Defending champion Magdalena Schnurr is not starting. 42 athletes from 14 countries are participating.

The Junior World Championships 2010 in Hinterzarten were inaugurated with a opening ceremony on Monday evening. The ladies competition will be on Friday, 4 pm. The official training rounds are on Wednesday and Thursday. Eurosport 2 is going to broadcast the competition live throughout Europe.

42 ladies from 14 countries are on the start list. With Irina Taktaeva for the first time ever a Russian athlete is participating. “In Russia women’s jumping is not popular. I make all efforts to raise the popularity of this sport. Participation in the Junior World Championships will help me, even if I do not achieve much. It’s is a great honour for me to start here, as I have been jumping only 5 years and now I am already able to jump at World Championships,” she said to Ladies-Skijumping.com.

The hosting nation Germany is present with five athletes. The team is going to decide after the training, who will start and who will act as replacement, as only four per country may start. Surprisingly the defending champion Magdalena Schnurr is not in the German team, instead Anna Rupprecht is on the start list.

Ladies-Skijumping.com took a close look at the favourites:

Sarah Hendrickson: Since the summer Sarah performed well in all competitions. More then once she missed the podium in a Continental Cup only by an eyelash and was always only beaten by older athletes.

Coline Mattel: The second rank at the CoC-competition in Schonach last Saturday was an impressive prove that the 14 year old French is hitting form right in time for that Junior Championships. Many treat her as the absolute favourite, but will she be able to stand that pressure?

Jacqueline Seifriedsberger: Holding the fifth rank in the overall Continental Cup, the 2008 Junior World Champion has the most stable form of all competitors. In eight out of ten competitions that winter she placed in the top ten, but did not make it to the podium so far.

Sara Takanashi: With her fifth place in December in Vikersund the young Japanese demonstrated her ability to beat all juniors, as only older athletes were ahead of her. Sara is always performing good on bigger hills, so the HS106 in Hinterzarten should suit her.

Carina Vogt was not competing at the start of this season in Norway and Finland. But when she joined the Continental Cup in Baiersbronn she presented in an excellent form and won the first competition in her career. Four days later in Schonach she claimed the second rank.

List of teams and competitors:

Austria:

Katharina Keil, Anna Kienzer, Cornelia Roider, Jacqueline Seifriedsberger

Canada:

Atsuko Tanaka

Czech Republik:

Michaela Dolezelova, Lucie Mikova, Vladena Pustkova

Finland:

Julia Kykkänen, Jenny Rautionaho

France:

Julia Clair, Caroline Espiau, Lea Lemare, Coline Mattel

Germany: