Ski jumper Katharina Schmid presented national coach Heinz Kuttin with her fourth win of the season on his birthday. The world champion won on the normal hill in Villach ahead of Nika Prevc, who recently won three times in a row. With now 655 points, Schmid also extended her lead in the overall World Cup ahead of the Slovenian (609).
“I won’t give up the yellow jersey that quickly. That just makes it easier to jump,” said Schmid on “ARD”: “I wanted to give it my all today, it worked.”
While the men jumped in Bischofshofen at the Four Hills Tournament, the women started 100 kilometers away as the crow flies on the second smallest ski jump in the World Cup after their stops in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Oberstdorf. Whether there will finally be the first tour for women next season will be decided in the next few weeks.
“That’s how they are, my girls”
Schmid flew at 95.5 and 97.0 m in Villach – and thus, as hoped, to the top on the new head coach Kuttin’s 54th birthday. In doing so, she intercepted Prevc, who was a whopping seven points ahead of her after the first round and had jumped three and a half meters further.
Selina Freitag rounded off the strong result in fifth place. “That’s how they are, my girls,” said Kuttin: “We’ve grown together really well in such a short time.”
Third place went to Jacqueline Seifriedsberger from Austria. From a German perspective, Juliane Seyfarth (15th), Agnes Reich (20th), Anna Hollandt (28th) and Alvine Holz (29th) also landed in the points.
Another individual competition is on the program in Villach on Monday (2.20 p.m./ZDF and Eurosport).