Sara Takanashi claims 25th GP win

Japan's Sara Takanashi took her second Grand Prix win this summer on Friday evening in Courchevel. With jumps of 125.5 m and 124 m (254.8 points), Takanashi came in clearly ahead of Austria's Chiara Hoelzl (247.1 points) and Juliane Seyfarth of Germany (237.3 points).

This success in Courchevel was the 25th win in the Grand Prix for Sara Takanashi, who has already won the women's GP opener in Hinterzarten two weeks ago. "I'm totally happy about my win today. It was a bit difficult for me because of the inrun speed, but I enjoyed competing in front of so many spectators. I want to thank them for the great support here in Courchevel", explained the winner.

Takanashi now leads the overall ranking of the Grand Prix with the maximum of 200 points. With only one competition to go (in Frenstat next weekend), the Japanese now has a great chance to claim the overall title of the FIS Grand Prix for the eighth time. The 22-year-old is also clearly ahead in the ranking of the most World Cup wins with 56.

The second place today went to Austria's Chiara Hoelzl, who said after the competition: "This was a huge step for me today and important for my self-confidence. I know where I want to be in winter and that I can keep up with the very best. This result proves that I did a lot of things right this summer so far." With the second place, the 22-year-old equaled her career-best Grand Prix result from 2016. Back then, she was also second in Courchevel.

Third-placed Juliane Seyfarth of Germany also achieved a career-best GP result with the third place. Seyfarth claimed four World Cup wins last winter, but in the Grand Prix the fourth place in Frenstat 2018 has been her best result until today. "I'm satisfied with today's result. My first jump was good, unfortunately, the second one was not that good anymore", she said right after the competition.

Behind the Top 3, Ursa Bogataj and Nika Kriznar (fourth and sixth) achieved top results for Slovenia, Olympic champion Maren Lundby of Norway was fifth. Local hero Josephine Pagnier in ninth and Romania's Daniela Haralambie achieved top results as well in ninth and 11th. Agnes Reisch confirmed her strong result for the Grand Prix opener in Hinterzarten with the tenth place.

The final event of the women's FIS Grand Prix 2019 will be held next weekend in Frenstat (CZE).

Full results