Irina Avvakumova and the Norwegians take the wins in Chaikovsky
Sep 12, 2021·Ski Jumping
Russia's Irina Avvakumova surprisingly claimed her first win since 2014 in the Grand Prix in Chaikovsky (RUS). In an exciting competition on Sunday, Avvakumova came in only 1.2 points ahead of top favorite Ursa Bogataj. In the mixed team competition today, the team of Norway took a clear win ahead of Slovenia.
It was a great second day of competition in Chaikovsky, about a 2-hour flight east of Moscow. To the joy of the fans at the hill, local hero Irina Avvakumova took her first win since 2014, when she also won in Chaikovsky. Avvakumova showed strong jumps and performed like at her peak. "I'm overjoyed and I really don't know what to say. This is an extremely important win for me after such a long time and it's a great day for Ski Jumping in Russia", said Avvakumova, after the 29-year-old also finished third with Russia in the mixed team event.
Behind Avvakumova, Ursa Bogataj came in second and secured the overall title of the women's Grand Prix 2021. With only one competition left this summer, she leads the ranking with 520 points, followed by Sara Takanashi of Japan (260 points).
The third place today went to Norway's Silje Opseth, who finished second yesterday.
Like yesterday, only athletes of Slovenia, Russia, and Norway landed on the top spots in this competition. Jenny Rautionaho (FIN) was the only jumper in the Top 10 who is not from one of these countries. Bing Dong of China achieved another good result in 12th, right behind the strong Czech Karolina Indrackova.
In the mixed team competition, the race for the win was open, at least after the first round. The Slovenes were keeping up with the top favorites of Norway for a long time, in the second round the Norwegians, with Halvor Egner Granerud, Johann Forfang, Anna Odine Stroem, and Silje Opseth then showed what they are capable of and took the win with a clear lead of more than 56 points.
The second place went to Slovenia, Russia came in third. The team of Japan finished fifth, followed by the Czech Republic.
The next competition for the women will be the Grand Prix final in Klingenthal in three weeks, where all the other top teams will also be participating again.
The men compete again in two weeks in the Grand Prix in Hinzenbach (AUT), followed by the final event in Klingenthal, together with the women.
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