Sara Takanashi was best in the official training for the World Cups in Ljubno. Also Hendrickson and Slovenian team strong.
After four competitions in Japan the Ladies Ski Jumping World Cup is back in Europe now. Two World Cups will be held in Ljubno, Solvenia. The K85 hill there is the smallest venue in this year’s World Cup, but due to its very steep inrun and short take-off this hill is also the technically most challenging one. It was scheduled to hold an official training and a qualification there today, but as only 42 competitors are on the start, the qualification was not necessary. Instead a third training round was held. During all three training rounds the wind conditions were varying a little, but all in all the wind was calm.
Clearly the best in this training was once more World Cup leader Sara Takanashi from Japan. With 90.5, 88.0 and 91.0 meters she set the farthest distance in all three training rounds. Also America’s Sarah Hendrickson jumped fine, but with 88.0, 82.5 and 88.5 meters she was clearly behind the Japanese.
Very strong was the performance of the entire Slovenian team. Best of them was Katja Pozun with jumps of 87.5, 86.0 and 84.5 meters. Spela Rogelj was only slightly behind her with with 83.5, 86.0 and 83.5 meters, and also Ursa Bogataj was among the best jumpers with 84.0 83.5 and 81.0 meters. To mention is also the performance of America’s Jessica Jerome. With jumps of 85.5, 84.0 and 83.5 meters she was also of the best jumpers today.
Bad luck has Finland’s Julia Kykkänen. She planned to re-enter the World Cup this weekend after being out of action due to a broken collarbone since the beginning of January. But unluckily her skis got lost on the flight to Ljubno. At the moment the airline is still investigation where the equipment has gone, so chances are low that she will receive her skis until tomorrow.
UPDATE 2013-02-15 18:43:00: The skis of Julia Kykkänen were eventually found and are on the way to Ljubno. Normally she should be able to compete tomorrow.
UPDATE 2013-02-15 19:40:00: Kykkänen received her skis, but unfortunately both are broken. We have to see, if she will compete.
FULL TRAINING RESULTS CAN BE FOUND HERE:
http://www.fis-ski.com/pdf/2013/JP/3899/2013JP3899RLT.pdf