Opseth wins the opener in Wisla to take the World Cup lead

The World Cup season 2022/23 has started! Silje Opseth was the best in the opening event in Wisla. Marita Kramer and Eva Pinklenig of Austria completed the podium on Saturday.

That was an exceptional competition as for the first time a World Cup event was held at plastic matting in early November. Under rainy conditions, Opseth showed an amazing performance to take her second-career win at the Adam-Malysz-hill ahead of two Austrians.

The Norwegian was in the lead already after the first round and a jump on 123 meters. She confirmed her dominance in the final reaching a distance of 127 meters which was the longest jump of the round.

However, despite winning, Opseth was not fully satisfied.

"Especially in the first round, I think I was too offensive. I did not get the connection with the skis. There is room for improvement," the Norwegian explained.

Marita Kramer, the World Cup Overall winner from the previous season, finished in second, 7.3 points behind Opseth. The Austrian had a strong showing, too, as she landed at 121 and 125.5 meters.

Kramer did not win in the opening competition for the first time since 2019. She was the best two years ago in Ramsau and last winter in Nizhniy Tagil.

"I think the conditions were pretty good. I cannot complain. Of course, it is a little bit different," she said on opening the season on plastic matting.

Kramer was followed by her teammate Eva Pinkelnig (125.5 and 126.5 meters) who had a tight fight with Frida Westman (127.5 and 126 meters). The Swedish moved up from the sixth to the fourth place in the second round and will be one of the top contenders also on Sunday.

Anna Odine Stroem of Norway and Sara Takanashi of Japan completed the Top 6, while the two highest-ranked Slovenes were Nika Kriznar in the seventh place and the qualification winner Ema Klinec in the eighth.

The Top 10 was packed with Norwegian, Austrian and Slovenian athletes. Sensationally, besides Westman and Takanashi, Finland's Jenny Rautionahio could break into the Top 10 on Saturday. She achieved her career-best result with ninth place. And she was even fifth after the first round and a jump on 124 meters.

One of the highlights of the World Cup opener in Wisla was the comeback of Maren Lundby. The three-time Crystal Globe winner took part in her first competition after a year and a half. She finished in 16th.

"Of course, it was a long way. But it feels good to be back. I am very happy to be here. There are still a lot of things to work on but I have to take it step by step," the Norwegian said.

"I did not have any big expectations. I was just hoping for good jumps and physically I am still not on the level I would like to be. It is really hard to fight with the best when you are not that well prepared. I just have to take some more time," she added.

None of the local athletes could make it to the final round. Nicole Konderla took the 34th place and Kinga Rajda was 36th, but they will get one more chance to score points ahead of their home crowd.

The second ladies' event will be held on Sunday. The qualification round is scheduled at 11 am and the competition starts at noon CET time.