Sara Takanashi once again outstanding

Sara Takanashi of Japan took a clear win in the second competition of the Ladies' Grand Prix 2018. On Friday evening in Courchevel, Takanashi jumped on 120 m and 131.5 m (253.1 points) and came in ahead of Ema Klinec (SLO) and her Japanese teammate Yuki Ito.

This was the 21st win in the Grand Prix for the 21-year-old, who also won the season opener in Hinterzarten two weeks ago. "I'm satisfied with this competition because the wind conditions were difficult, but I managed to remain focused on my performance and this was the key to my success today", explained the 4-time overall World Cup winner.

The second place went to Ema Klinec of Slovenia, who had an outstanding second jump. "It was a surprise for me that I could jump that well in training, then I only had to repeat it in the competition. In the second round I went all or nothing and this second place is a great motivation for me for the rest of the summer. I jumped here on this hill for the first time, you have to fly really well and you need the feeling for the air", said Klinec, who finished on the podium in the Grand Prix for the first time in five years. Back then she won on the normal hill in Courchevel.

Japan's Yuki Ito finished third today. "All in all I'm satisfied with this result. In the first round I was not jumping that well, but I think the second jump was better", she said after the competition.

In this event, which was held in bright sunshine and under summerlike temperatures, the places four, five and seven went to the three Germans Katharina Althaus, Juliane Seyfarth, and Ramona Straub. This was a strong team result for Germany.

Maren Lundby of Norway came in sixth and with this result, the Olympic champion and overall World Cup winner could not live up to the high expectations.

Best Austrian was Chiara Hoelzl in tenth, local hero Lucile Morat finished on a good 11th place in front of 5 000 spectators.

Sara Takanashi leads the Grand Prix overall ranking with the maximum of 200 points, followed by her teammate Yuki Ito (140 points) and Ema Klinec (120 points).

The Ladies' Grand Prix continues already next weekend with two individual competitions in Frenstat (CZE).