JWSC: Individual titles to Thomas Aasen Markeng and Anna Shpyneva
Jan 24, 2019·Ski Jumping
Thomas Aasen Markeng of Norway and Russia's Anna Shpyneva took the individual titles at the FIS Junior World Championships in Lahti (FIN) on Thursday.
The 18-year-old Norwegian won the exciting men's competition on the HS 100 normal hill with two jumps of 97 m and 252.1 points. "My day was really very good. I came to the hill and just focused on Ski Jumping. Now I stand here on top so I'm really, really happy", said the new World Champion.
The silver medal went to Germany's Luca Roth, who landed at 95 m in the first round and posted the longest jump of the day of 97.5 m in the final. He scored a total of 250.8 points. "I'm very satisfied with my result. It means a lot to me and it shows that I did a good job from last summer until now. Then I also want to say "Thank you" to the coaches, my family and everyone who supported me on this way. I was not so satisfied with trial round today, in the two competition jumps I was still a bit early at the take-off, but now I'm happy", told the German.
Sergey Tkachenko of Kazakhstan provided the surprise of the day. With 96.5 m, the 19-year-old was in the lead ahead of Markeng and Roth after the first half of the competition and secured the third place with 94.5 m in the final and 248.9 points. "Yesterday I was a bit nervous, but tonight I slept well and today I felt very good. I want to thank the coaches, my family and my friends", said the bronze medalist.
Constantin Schmid of Germany was fourth and missed the podium only by the tiny margin of 0.6 points. Zak Mogel was the best Slovene in fifth, he was followed by the best jumpers of Poland and Austria, Pawel Wasek and Maximilian Lienher, in sixth and seventh.
In the ladies' competition, the Russian team secured a 1-2 finish. Anna Shpyneva posted jumps of 89.5 m and 94 m and came in close ahead of her teammate Lidiia Iakovleva with 253.1 points. Iakovleva was in the lead with her first jump of 92.5 m, but even though she jumped on 95 in the final, it was only enough to finish second with 252.4 points due to the lower judges' marks.
"My jumps were good, we were well prepared for this competition and I want to thank the coaches and everyone who supported us. I hope we can also give our best again in the mixed team competition", said Anna Shpyneva. Lidiia Iakovleva is already looking ahead to the next tasks as well: "My jumps were very good and I'm happy about that. We showed very good performances today and I think we can also win the mixed team event."
Lara Malsiner of Italy came in third with 92.5 m and the longest jump of the day of 95.5 m (249.9 points). She also lost the chance on an even better result with lower marks given by the judges. "The level is getting higher and higher in the juniors category. I'm actually very satisfied with my jump. I was hoping to finish on the podium and I achieved that. I'm very happy about this result", said the Italian.
Norway's Silje Opseth came in fourth, followed by Lucile Morat of France and Slovenia's Jerneja Brecl.
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