Sara Takanashi and Sarah Hendrickson jumped best in the third official training for the World Championships in Val di Fiemme.
Third day in Val di Fiemme – third official training. No qualification for tomorrows competition is necessary there are only 45 competitors on the start list. So instead of the initially scheduled qualification two more training rounds were held today. Nice sunny weather here in Val die Fiemme allowed for really nice trainings on the last two days, but unfortunately today there was some snowfall during the trainings. A lot of helpers did a really good job to keep the inrun track free of snow. With the snow came a stiff breeze of headwind, that was from time to time simply too strong, so some breaks had to be taken. The longest one shortly after the start of the training. During the second training round the snowfall got less and so the last jumpers in the second round had almost perfect conditions. Some of the jumpers that performed fine on the last two days, such as the surprisingly strong Austrian Chiara Hölzl or the whole German team skipped this third training.
Best in the first training round was this season’s overall World Cup winner Sara Takanashi from Japan with a strong jump of 101.0 meters. Close behind her was America’s Sarah Hendrickson with a 99.0 meter jumps. Third of this round came Anette Sagen with a jump of 97.0 meters. With a slightly longer inrun Italy’s Elena Runggaldier also made 97.5 meters and so took the fourth round rank. Japan’s Yuki Ito had a nice attempt of 96.5 meters and so came fifth. After struggling on the last days, Italy’s Evelyn Insam eventually seems to find her form. She made a nice jump of 94.5 meters and so took the sixth round rank. Nevertheless her second jump of 88.5 meters was a little weaker, so she still needs some more consistence.
Best in the second round was then Hendrickson. Her 102.0 meter jump was the farthest of the day. Second behind her came Austria’s Jaqueline Seifriedsberger, who did not jump in the first round, by making 99.5 meters. This time 96.5 meters of Sagen were enough for her to take the third round rank again. Coline Mattel from France, who had jumped 93.5 meters before, made a nice 96.5 meter jump this time and so took the fourth rank of this second training round. Takanashi took only the fifth place with a jump of 92.5 meters, but it has to be mentioned that she had the least headwind of the whole training. America’s Lindsey Van eventually took the sixth place of this second round with a 95.0 meter jump.
The individual competition will be held tomorrow 16:00 CET.
FULL TRAINING RESULTS CAN BE FOUND HERE:
http://www.fis-ski.com/pdf/2013/JP/3798/2013JP3798RLT3.pdf