Norway sweeps the podium in Nizhny Tagil
Dec 06, 2020·Ski Jumping
Three Norwegians dominated Sunday's competition in Nizhny Tagil. Halvor Egner Granerud, Robert Johansson, and Marius Lindvik took the top spots in once again difficult conditions in Russia. Markus Eisenbichler recovered well from his 28th place yesterday and finished fourth.
"These are important points for me today. Now the trip to Russia was worth it, after all. I'm absolutely satisfied with my fourth place today. I lost an even better result in the first round because my jump was too aggressive", explained Eisenbichler, who is now second in the overall World Cup with his 333 points. Halvor Egner Granerud leads this ranking with a total of 400 points.
Three athletes of the Norwegian team of head coach Alexander Stoeckl fought for the win on the second day in Nizhny Tagil. In the end, Halvor Egner Granerud scored 241.5 points and came in just ahead of his teammates Robert Johansson (240.7 points) and Marius Lindvik (240.6 points). For Granerud, this was the third win of his career and the third in a row. The Norwegians claimed five of the six spots on the podium this weekend.
"Considering the wind here today and yesterday I think it's impressive that we could have competitions here at all. It's an amazing feeling to leave Nizhny Tagil with two wins. I thought the yellow bib would mean more pressure, but it didn't feel different. I'm in the best shape of my life", said Granerud, the new highflyer from Norway, after the competition.
The surprises of the day were provided by Japan's Keiichi Sato in fifth and Poland's Pawel Wasek in sixth. For both, this Top 10 finish was the best result of their careers. Gregor Deschwanden of Switzerland achieved a top result in ninth.
Covid-19 hits ski jumpers hard
After four athletes tested positive for Covid-19, the entire Austrian team has decided to not take part in today's competition. Daniel Huber, Jan Hoerl, Manuel Fettner, and Thomas Lackner quarantined right after their tests on Sunday morning were positive.
FIS Race Director Sandro Pertile is in quarantine as well, he also tested positive in Nizhny Tagil.
Next weekend, the Ski Flying World Championships are taking place in Planica (SLO). The teams will travel directly to Ljubljana with a charter flight from Ekaterinburg on Monday morning.
