Schmid wins ‘fight’ with Prevc to claim victory in Villach

Jan 05, 2025·Ski Jumping

Schmid has now won four World Cup events during the 2024/25 season ©Barbieri/NordicFocus

Seven-time World champion Katharina Schmid (GER) ended the winning run of rival Nika Prevc (SLO) by overcoming the Slovenian with a strong second round performance in the first FIS Ski Jumping World Cup showdown in Villach, Austria.

19-year-old Prevc, who won the 2023/24 Crystal Globe, had opened the season with victory in Lillehammer (NOR), before struggles in Zhangjiakou (CHN) combined with rival Schmid’s two wins, saw the German take an overall standings lead.

Since then, Prevc has been gradually eroding the advantage held by the two-time Olympic silver medalist and after success in Engelberg (SUI) as well as the defence of her Two Nights Tour title, she entered the sixth World Cup stop trailing Schmid by 26 points.

The Slovenian set a new hill record of 102m in qualifying earlier on Sunday and also led by seven points after a strong first round, but Schmid showed better form in tricky conditions to deliver a winning total of 264.7.

Prevc (260.2) would place second, with the home fans able to celebrate host-nation podium success as Jacqueline Seifriedsberger (251.4) claimed her first top-three of the season.

“I’m really happy about the victory today,” Schmid told FIS. “It wasn’t the easiest competition but I’m feeling way better and it feels great to be on top again.

“It gives me a lot of self-confidence, it was a fight between Nika (Prevc) and me, but I think that’s interesting for the fans and everyone.”

Schmid’s fourth win of the season helped her to a total of 655 World Cup points and extends her lead over Prevc (609) to 46 points, with the next highest, Selina Freitag (GER), on 348.

“I did really good jumps but in the last one I did a little mistake which cost me a lot of points,” said Prevc. “That’s the sport (though) and I don’t have to worry about my ski jumping. I will still fight for a victory tomorrow.”

Seifriedsberger praised the impact of the crowd as she placed on the World Cup podium for the first time since March last year.

“It (the supporters) definitely pushed me and I’m very happy to jump like this today,” the Austrian told FIS.

The women’s field will return to the HS98 Normal Hill again on Monday for the second Villach World Cup, with qualifying and the first round at 13:00 and 14:20 (CET) respectively.

How it played out – Villach World Cup:

After the drama of the Two Nights Tour, which saw athletes who qualified for the first round taking on a series of duels, it was back to regular World Cup rules for the Villach double-header.

As such, the 39 ski jumpers who lined up in the first round were seeking a rank within the top 30 in order to reach the decider.

That did not include regular podium contender Eirin Maria Kvandal (NOR), who opted to continue her preparations for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, which take place in her homeland, Trondheim (NOR), between 26 Feb to 9 March.

After achieving an impressive 94.5m in training Liu Qi (CHN) was generating plenty of attention, but conditions were not favourable in the first round, where she achieved 81.5m

A wind compensation score of 13.1 helped her to a total of 105.6 points though which would see her lead the standings at least temporarily.

©Barbieri/NordicFocus

Kurumi Ichinohe (JPN) and Lara Malsiner (ITA) both managed jumps of 89m to move ahead and qualifying strongly for the second round.

Juliane Seyfarth (GER) was the first to edge past the 90m mark, recording 90.5 and scoring 112.2 halfway through the first round and from there the frequency of 90m+ jumps unsurprisingly continued to increase.

Fellow German Agnes Reisch opted to move down two gates, adopting a ‘safety first’ approach to her jump, after an earlier crash in qualifying, but she would still ease through.

Home favourite Eva Pinkelnig (AUT) won twice in Villach in 2022/23 when the venue made its debut as part of the women’s World Cup circuit.

She also placed second twice last season, behind Nika Prevc, but has enduring a challenging current campaign, which had continued in qualifying, where she placed 11^th.

The Austrian showed much improved form when it really mattered though and 95.5m, which scored 123.0, would give her a shot at the podium in the second round.

©Barbieri/NordicFocus

Anna Odine Stroem (NOR) achieved 94m, but greater style marks saw her edge ahead with 123.6, with Germany’s Selina Freitag (124.3) and Lisa Eder of Austria (126.4) taking positions five to three respectively at the end of the opening round.

That meant, as many had suspected, it would be Prevc and Schmid topping the standings at the halfway stage of the competition.

Prevc had gone first and despite the tricky conditions jumped 99m, which achieved a significant 139.2 points and would ultimately give her a lead of 7pts after Schmid’s session ending leap of 95.5m.

31 would line-up for the final round after Alvine Holz (GER) and Ingvild Synnoeve Midtskogen (NOR) tied for the last qualification berth.

The weather finally allowed Liu Qi to show her potential in the second round, with 96m helping her climb six places, to finish 14^th.

Not making the progress she hoped for though was Pinkelnig. Despite placing sixth at the halfway stage she would slip, rather than gain and finished seventh.

That was not the end of host nation podium hopes though, with Seifriedsberger’s 94m jump putting her top with an overall score of 251.2, which not even team-mate Lisa Eder could better.

Schmid was the penultimate athlete to take to the hill and celebrated after landing an impressive 97m, knowing that regardless of Prevc’s performance it would be enough to retain her World Cup lead.

With the wind continuing to throw challenging variables at the field, the jury moved the start gate down one position or the final jumper, Nika Prevc.

The teenager was off-balance for much of the jump, looked nervous after landing her 94m effort and soon placed her hands on her head, showing her belief that it was unlikely to be enough for victory.

And so, it would prove.