Elena Runggaldier won the Gold Medal ahead of Coline Mattel and Sarah Hendrickson.
Italy’s Elena Runggaldier won the Junior World Championships in Hinterzarten. A 106.5 meter jump in the first round was a stable base for that win. A good jump on 102.0 meters in the second round made her victory perfect. “I am totally happy, that I won. I had never expected that, as I had only good but not perfect jumps in the trainings. For sure I was nervous, but I had my favourite bib number, so I had a good feeling,” she said at the press conference. She now has a full set of medals, as she already won Silver and Bronze at Junior World Championships in previous years. “Everything is possible now, but I hope the best for the next World Championships,” she said about her future.
Already second after the first round, Coline Mattel (FRA) was able to defend that rank and won the silver medal (103.5 and 101.0 m). “Yesterday I was very stressed. I felt better today after the good result in the first round. I wanted to keep that position”, she said happily after the competition. Mattel already took the second place at the last Continental Cup in Schonach. “I hope I can continue the season like that,” she said.
America’s Sarah Hendrickson took the third rank. After a good 102.5 meter jump in the first round, 97.5 meters in the second were sufficient for her to claim the Bronze Medal. “I just wanted to have good jumps, because yesterday it was hard with the weather. But today it was better, and now I hope the best for the rest of the season,” she said. Hendrickson performed good in the competitions in Scandinavia at the start of the season, but had to skip the FIS Winter Tour early in January, as she had to go to school.
Bigna Windmüller (SUI) took the fourth rank. Two stable jumps to 97.0 and 100.5 meters were enough for her to claim that place. Austria’s Jacqueline Seifriedsberger and Germany’s Carina Vogt, leaders in Thursday’s official trainings, only jumped 95.0 m in the first round and placed on ranks 9 and 10 after the round. A 103.0 meter jump in the second round allowed Vogt to advance to the fifth place, 101.0 m were enough for Seifriedsberger to finally take the sixth place.
The German team, that dominated in all official training rounds, had three athletes on places four to six after the first round. But all three, Juliane Seyfarth, Anna Rupprecht and Melanie Faisst, fell back in the second round and finally took places seven, nine and eleven. “It did not make me nervous, that the Germans were so strong, as I concentrated on myself,” said winner Runggaldier.
The competition was postponed from yesterday due to wind and snow. While there was calm wind most of the time, there was again some snow disturbing it. After some slight snowfall during the trial round, some heavy snowfall set in with the beginning of the first competition round and some breaks were necessary to remove snow from the inrun track. In the second round the snowfall had stopped and there were nice and equal conditions. “Considering all the snow, we can be pleased, that the hill was so fine prepared, the inrun was perfect,” said Runggaldier.