Maren Lundby on top in Ljubno
Feb 23, 2020·Ski JumpingAfther the Team event on Saturday, Maren Lundby from Norway won the individual competition in Ljubno (SLO) on Sunday. Austrian Eva Pinkelnig and Slovenian Nika Kriznar followed on second and third position.
With two jumps of 93 m and 89 m on the 94HS hill in Ljubno, Olympic Champion Maren Lundby scored 254.8 points and her 29th victory. This makes now the competition closer in the overall World Cup with current leader Chiara Hoelzl who finished seventh today.
Having a really strong team this season, it was then clear that Austrian would finish second today. 18-year-old Marita Kramer was second on the first round but eventually teammate Eva Pinkelnig claimed the podium, Marita finishing fourth.
After the Team podium yesterday, Nika Kriznar offered the public the third place on the podium today. She was deeply moved by this first podium at home and her first individual one this season. "It's beautiful, I have the best fans. That's all I can say," explained the local hero, who is now current best Slovenian athlete and eight in the overall ranking.
Japanase Sara Takanashi, multiple winner here in Ljubno in the past years finished in fifth position, ahead of teammates Yuka Seto (ninth) and Nozomi Maruyama (tenth).
Slovenian Ema Klinec finished sixth, Silje Opseth, from Norway eighth.
Germany used to be really strong and often on the podiums in Ljubno but today, the best ski jumpers were Katharina Althaus (11th) and Juliane Seyfarth (21st)
After this World Cup competition, Maren Lundby is just 26 points behind Austrian leader Chiara Hoelzl who has 1066 points. Eva Pinkelnig remains third with 939 points.
The World Cup program has now a break and continues next month with RAW AIR in Norway, starting on March 7th.