Dominant Schmid celebrates double victory in Zhangjiakou

Katharina Schmid (GER) secured a remarkable double victory at the second FIS Ski Jumping World Cup event of the 2024/25 season in Zhangjiakou, China. The 28-year-old claimed her second win of the weekend and her third straight victory of the season.

The seven-time world champion is currently enjoying the best season start of her career, having secured three victories and a second place so far.

One day after her commanding 27.0 points victory over Erin Maria Kvandal (NOR), Schmid once again showed her fine form in China.

Schmid produced the two best jumps of the final, awarded with 110.9 and 110.2 points, for a combined total score of 221.1 points to beat Slovenia’s Ema Klinec (208.9) by 12.2 points. Lisa Eder (AUT) followed in third with a total of 200.6.  

“I feel great. I’m very, very happy. It feels so good to jump here”, Schmid said afterward.

The 2022 Olympic silver medalist had placed second behind Jacqueline Seifriedsberger (AUT) in qualifications but dominated in the final on the Snow Ruyi hill in Zhangjiakou.

While Saturday's competition was heavily impacted by the weather conditions, Sunday's event went a lot smoother. "I think it (the competition) was easier and a bit fairer today", Schmid said. "The wind was about the same for everyone (this time)."

Klinec moves up

Slovenia's Klinec, who finished fourth on the first day of competition, secured second place a day later. Klinec, who had only qualified in 24th, sat in eighth after the first round and knew she had work to do if she wanted to secure her season's first podium finish.

And so she did. A strong second jump (107.2 points) saw her rise to the podium. "It feels great to be back on the podium", Klinec said. "It took me some time to achieve that on the Normal Hill. I was jumping pretty good today and also had some luck the conditions., which you needed on a day like today."

Eder landed in third thanks to a strong second outing on the Chinese hill and secured her second podium finish of the season. "My jumps were better than yesterday, especially the second one. I am really happy with the podium, it feels really cool."

Sara Takanashi (JPN) just missed out on the podium in fourth. 2023/24 overall champion Nika Prevc (SLO) landed in fifth. Selina Freitag (GER) improved after Saturday's 17th place finish and took sixth place. Freitag finished second and third at the first World Cup of the season in Lillehammer.

Top-qualifier Seifriedsberger disappoints

Austria's Seifreidsberger, who topped the qualification rankings earlier in the day, did not manage to live up to the expectations she had set earlier in the day.

Although she kicked things off with a strong first jump and a second place (106.0 points), she lost her advantage with a disappointing second outing (87.3 points) to finish seventh with a total of 193.3 points.

Up next...

The FIS Ski Jumping World Cup continues in Engelberg (SUI) next week (20-22 December), where both the men and women will compete.