Norway wins mixed team thriller in Klingenthal
Oct 01, 2022·Ski Jumping
The Norwegian Ski Jumping mixed team won Saturday's competition at the FIS Grand Prix in Klingenthal (GER) ahead of the teams of Germany and Slovenia. This summer's final team competition was extremely exciting.
What the teams were able to offer the spectators in the Vogtland-Arena in sometimes heavy rain was a true nail-biter. First, the Slovenian team lost the chance to win with the disqualification of Ema Klinec. But Ursa Bogataj, Anze Lanisek, and Timi Zajc, and in the second jump also Ema Klinec, showed today was amazing. With one jump less, the Slovenes closed the gap to the top and even finished on the podium. A very special premiere.
This fact was also noted by the winner: "What the Slovenes showed here today was really extremely strong, without the disqualification they would have won for sure", said Daniel Andre Tande of Norway, who was impressed by the performance of the Slovenian team.
Only the teams of Norway (Daniel Andre Tande, Marius Lindvik, Silje Opseth, and Thea Minyan Bjoerseth) and Germany (Karl Geiger, Andreas Wellinger, Katharina Althaus, and Selina Freitag) were able to keep up with Slovenia this afternoon.
"Of course, we are happy about our win today, in the end, all the jumps count. I'm very satisfied with the performance of our team and my own. It was my first competition this summer and my first win, this feels great. I'm hoping for another podium in the individual competition tomorrow", said Tande, who played an important role in the success of the team of head coach Alexander Stoeckl with two strong jumps.
The German team celebrated the second place today. "We can be very satisfied with the second place, even if we are not that satisfied with the jumps, especially those of the men. We lost some points there and we have to work on improving it for tomorrow's competition. It was a very good and exciting competition today", German head coach Stefan Horngacher said after the competition.
The team of Japan came in fourth, Austria finished fifth after Julia Muehlbacher could not jump in the second round due to an injury. The 18-year-old felt pain in the lower back and was taken to the hospital for a check. Muehlbacher had already complained about the pain yesterday.
The Austrian head coach Harry Rodlauer explained: "The circumstances were great for us this time. Eva Pinkelnig and Chiara Kreuzer, who were both jumping well recently, are not competing here for private reasons, Marita Kramer could not show her best jumps. What's most important is the health of Julia. We hope that she won't be sidelined for long. Now it's about ending the Grand Prix with a good performance tomorrow and then the countdown to the winter season starts."
The teams of Italy, Finland, and Switzerland came in sixth, seventh, and eighth.
The 2022 Grand Prix season ends with the two individual competitions on Sunday. Slovenia's Ursa Bogataj already secured the overall title, and Poland's Dawid Kubacki has a clear lead over Manuel Fettner (70 points behind) in the men's overall ranking.
Ski Jumping Grand Prix 2022 overall men
Ski Jumping Grand Prix 2022 overall women
The women's competition starts on Sunday at 12:30 pm, followed by the men's event at 4:05 pm.
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