ski jumping
Eva Pinkelnig had to admit defeat for the first time on the New Year’s tour. After her two victories in Villach, the 34-year-old from Vorarlberg finished second behind Anna Odine Ström in the first of two competitions in Ljubno. The Norwegian left Pinkelnig by 0.9 points. Third place went to the German Katharina Althaus.
Despite the day’s maximum distance of 93.5 meters in the second round, Pinkelnig ultimately had to bow to the Norwegian as second at halftime. The 34-year-old extended her lead in the overall standings. With a total of 776.9 points, she leads after three competitions ahead of Ström (753.6) and Althaus (740.7). The last tour competition will also be staged in Ljubno on Sunday (4.30 p.m., live on ORF1).
Second best Austrian on Saturday was Chiara Kreuzer as seventh, Marita Kramer took 18th place, Hannah Wiegele 28th place. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger missed the final as 33rd.
“It’s going amazing right now”
“It was very, very close. I’m very happy for Anna to have her first victory,” emphasized Pinkelnig, who had finished 29th in qualifying the day before. “In the competition I manage to call up my performance.” She hopes for a relaxed finish on Sunday. “It’s going amazingly right now, I’m enjoying it.”
ÖSV head coach Harald Rodlauer was impressed by the consistently strong Pinkelnig. “She did it again, sensational,” said Rodlauer and wasn’t upset about the missed victory. “We’re back on the podium, so we can be very satisfied.”