Ski jumper Katharina Althaus has just missed her third World Cup victory in a row in Hinterzarten. The 21-year-old had to admit defeat in the Black Forest after flights at 102.5 and 99.0 m with 265.7 points, second only to the Norwegian Maren Lundby (269.1). Ramona Straub (Langenordnach) was a surprise, finishing fourth with the best result of her career.
Althaus was on the podium for the fourth time in the fourth jumping competition of the Olympic Winter and once again proved her top form. In the overall World Cup, however, the Oberstdorfer has to share her lead with Lundby. The two female high-flyers of the winter each score 360 points.
Olympic champion Carina Vogt (Degenfeld) and Juliane Seyfarth (Ruhla) also made it into the top ten in positions six and eight. Svenja Würth (Baiersbronn) was not at the start, who had fallen heavily in the first women’s team competition of the World Cup history on Saturday. The mixed world champion crashed into the snow after landing and then into the gang. The 24-year-old is suspected of cruciate ligament rupture and meniscus damage.
The competition on Sunday was the 100th. Single jumping since the World Cup premiere in December 2011. Japan’s Sara Takanashi has won 53 of them, but this season the high-flyer of the past few years is still waiting for her first victory. Also on the Rothausschanze it was only enough for Takanashi to reach third place.
In the team jumping on Saturday Vogt, Althaus and Seyfarth had taken part in the second round despite Würth’s fall. The seven jumps scored 836.5 points and ranked fourth. The victory went to Japan (956.0), followed by Russia (863.7) and France (846.4).