Without their top stars Carina Vogt and Katharina Althaus, the German ski jumpers missed the podium at the team competition in Zao, Japan.
Juliane Seyfarth, Ramona Straub, Gianina Ernst and Anna Rupprecht finished fourth with 672.1 points. The victory in the second team competition in World Cup history went to Japan (761.7), followed by Slovenia (706.8) and Russia (696.1). A total of eight nations competed.
While Olympic gold medallist Vogt and two-time season’s winner Althaus in Oberstdorf are looking forward to the Winter Games in Pyeongchang (9th place). till 25. The other DSV-jumpers showed moderate performances in the fight for the last two Olympic tickets. The best impression was left by Seyfarth (Ruhla) with jumps of 89.0 and 91.0 m and Straub (Langenordnach), which reached 84.5 and 88.0 m respectively.
Already at the premiere of the team jumping competition in December, the German team in Hinterzarten took fourth place after a heavy fall of Svenja Würth, the victory had also gone to top star Sara Takanashi from Japan. In 2019 in Seefeld, the team competition will be part of the World Cup programme for the first time.
On Sunday, the Zao-Schanze will be the last individual jumping event before the Olympic squad is announced. National coach Andreas Bauer can nominate four female jumpers, so far only world champion Vogt and Althaus have secured their ticket.