JWSC: Gold for Germany and Russia
Jan 26, 2019·Ski Jumping
On Saturday it was time for the two team competitions at the Junior World Championships in Lahti. After the two events, the athletes of Germany and Russia could celebrate their gold medals.
The men's competition became a duel of the Norwegians and the Germans, in which the defending champions of Germany had the edge after the eight jumps. Luca Roth, Kilian Maerkl, Philipp Raimund and Constantin Schmid won the World Championship title with a total of 979.7 points. Raimund and Schmid were also on the winning team at the Junior World Championships in Kandersteg 2018. "My first two jumps today, in the trial and the first round, were again very early at the take-off, I just have problems with the timing on this hill. The second round was pretty solid. I'm satisfied", said Luca Roth, who would have been the best in an individual ranking with 95 m and 94.5 m.
The Norwegians around individual World Champion Thomas Aasen Markeng came in second after an exciting fight. Fredrik Villumstad, Anders Ladehaug, Sander Vossan Eriksen, and Thomas Markeng took silver with 976.8 points. "I think today's competition was super fun for the audience. We had some good jumps and some very good jumps, it was just not enough. I think that in a few weeks we will be happy about the silver medal", said the still a bit disappointed Fredrik Villumstad right after the competition.
Slovenia, represented by Aljaz Osterc, Jan Bombek, Jernej Presecnik, and Zak Mogel, secured the third spot on the podium with their total of 952.6 points. "The competition today was very fair, the wind conditions were good and the hill was well prepared. We are very happy about the third place", said Aljaz Osterc.
The Top 3 teams came in clearly ahead of the rest of the field. Japan was fourth, already almost 44 points behind Slovenia. The fifth place went to Austria, Poland, Russia, and France also qualified for the second round.
In the ladies competition, the Russians showed a dominant performance. Mariia Iakovleva, Aleksandra Barantceva, Anna Shpyneva, and Lidiia Iakovleva won the gold medal with 912.2 points. Lidiia Iakovleva, second in the individual competition behind Anna Shpyneva, showed the best jumps on Saturday with 95 m and 93 m. "This competition went very well for us because we worked hard and got what we wanted. We are here in Lahti for training every year and I love it", said World Champion Anna Shpyneva.
Jenny Nowak, Josephin Laue, Selina Freitag, and Agnes Reisch took silver for Germany with 845.4 points. "We were confident, that we could be on the podium. These were the fifth Junior World Championships for me and I just enjoyed that I could participate again and win a silver medal. We all did our best and we can be totally satisfied with the second place", said Agnes Reisch.
The third place went to the Austrians Marita Kramer, Lisa Hirner, Claudia Purker, and Lisa Eder with 831.6 points. "We are all very happy. Lisa was nervous before the last jump and I'm proud of how she handled it. I'm happy about my fourth medal at my fourth Junior World Championships. It's always something special to win a medal with the team", said Claudia Purker.
The team of Japan was fourth and missed the podium by only 1.3 points. Slovenia, France, Italy, and Poland followed on the places five to eight.
The last Ski Jumping competition at the Junior World Championships is the mixed team event on Sunday at 2 pm CET.
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