Austria's female ski jumpers: joy of winning medals despite individual disappointment!

Austria's female ski jumpers: joy of winning medals despite individual disappointment!

Sensational performances, but no individual medal for Austria's ski jumpers! At the Nordic World Ski Championships in Trondheim on Friday, Eva Pinkelnig narrowly missed out on a medal in the large hill competition, finishing fourth. Due to strong winds, the competition was canceled after only one round, which severely affected the competition conditions. Gold went to Slovenia's Nika Prevc, who secured her second World Championship gold after winning on the normal hill and thus became the first double world champion in history. The German Selina Freitag won silver and Eirin Maria Kvandal from Norway secured bronze, while Pinkelnig was only 7.4 points short of the podium, so that she and the entire team had to return home from the individual competitions without another medal, as the Kleine Zeitung also reported.

Despite the disappointment, Pinkelnig is satisfied with her performance and is optimistic about the future. “I am the happiest fourth-place finisher at this World Cup,” she said, emphasizing that she was going home with a “grin.” Her teammates, Lisa Eder and Jacqueline Seifriedsberger, also had positive words about their team medals in the team competition (silver) and mixed team (bronze). Eder let it be known that she was unhappy with her individual performance, while Seifriedsberger confirmed that it was a battle against the jump and didn't go well for her. The athletes took valuable experience with them from Trondheim, even if the weather conditions were not the best, as team boss Bernhard Metzler summed it up.

Positive balance despite challenges

"We're going home with two medals. I think we can be satisfied," explained Metzler. While the ski jumpers end the World Championships with mixed feelings, they are confident about the next competitions, especially the Raw Air in Norway, where Pinkelnig has great ambitions. “The 200 meters is the goal and if I continue like this, it will definitely be possible,” said the Vorarlberg native optimistically. Seifriedsberger and Eder also want to work on their performance in order to be at the top next time. Pinkelnig added: “I’m excited about what’s coming.” You can find out more about this in the reports from Laola1 and Kleine Zeitung.