Norwegian team dominates the Grand Prix in Schuchinsk
Sep 05, 2021·Ski Jumping
The long wait for better conditions at the first FIS Grand Prix in Schuchinsk (KAZ) finally ended on early Sunday morning. The competition, which had to be canceled on Saturday due to the strong wind, could take place at 8:30 am LOC, the second competition of the day then follows as originally planned at 2 pm.
The first win in Schuchinsk then went to the top favorite. Halvor Egner Granerud, last season's overall World Cup winner, could follow up on his performances from last winter in his first international competition this summer. The Norwegian took the win on the HS 99 normal hill with 96 m and 94 m and 258.6 points. It was his first-ever win a Grand Prix competition.
"I'm very satisfied, my shape is really very good. The hill here is really nice, yesterday it was a bit of bad luck, that the wind was so strong, but basically, this is a great facility. I think it's even better here in winter and it would be even more fun to jump here then", the 25-year-old said after the premiere event on this hill.
The 1-2 finish for Norway was completed by Granerud's teammate Marius Lindvik, who came in second with 97 m and 89 m (249.2 points). With Robert Johansson in fourth, a third athlete of the strong Norwegian team was among the best in this competition. Johann Andre Forfang, who fell in yesterday's training, had to be satisfied with the 13th place.
A surprise was provided by Vladimir Zografski. The Bulgarian finished in third with 94 m and 89.5 m and 245.9 points and achieved his first podium finish in a Grand Prix. It was a very strong performance of the former Junior World Champion.
Behind Cene Prevc of Slovenia in fifth, Sergey Tkachenko was sixth and achieved a strong result for the hosting team in the new, impressive Ski Jumping stadium in Schuchinsk. Viktor Polasek and Roman Trofimov were seventh and eighth and secured successes for the teams of the Czech Republic and Russia.
Only a few hours later, Halvor Egner Granerud followed up with his second win today. With 93.5 m and 87.5 m and 221.4 points, the Norwegian stood on top of the podium for the second time in a row. It was definitely a perfect of the summer season for him.
"This second competition today was very demanding, especially in the first round I had pretty strong side wind, but my shape is very good at the moment. Now I'm tired and I'm really looking forward to the hotel, it started really early today and two competitions on one day are hard", said Granerud, who now leads the overall ranking of the Grand Prix with 200 points.
For the Norwegian team, this competition went even better than the first one today. With Robert Johansson (91 m and 92 m; 212.4 points) and Marius Lindvik (95 m and 87 m; 211.8 points) in second and third, the team of head coach Alex Stoeckl took all three spots on the podium this time. The Norwegian ski jumpers will now travel from Kazakhstan straight to Russia, where the next Grand Prix will be held in Chaikovsky next weekend. The only exception is Robert Johansson, who will return home because his 1-year-old daughter suffers from an ear infection.
Marius Lindvik shared his third place today with young Russian Danil Sadreev, who posted jumps of 99.5 m and 87 m. The 18-year-old finished on the podium for the first time in his career and once again proved his great potential.
Sadreev's more experienced teammates Mikhail Nazarov and Roman Trofimov also showed strong performance and completed the strong team result of Russia in fifth and sixth.
After his third place earlier, Vladimir Zografski finished seventh in today's second competition, local hero Sergey Tkachenko was tenth, behind Daiki Ito and Johann Andre Forfang.
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