Ski jumper Selina Freitag flew back onto the podium in the World Cup general sample overshadowed by a violent fall of Norwegian Thea Minyan Björseth. Friday ended up in second place at the first of two jumps in Ljubno in Slovenian and only had to give up Slovenia’s high -flyer Nika Prevc.
Björseth, which leads after the first round, fell after the landing and hit his head hard. The 21-year-old, who still took third place, was treated for a long time on the run, colleagues and opponents kept their breath. Finally Björseth was removed.
Björseth’s fall was clearly the forefront and celebrated its eighth win of the season with 90.5 and 95.0 m (280.0). The 19-year-old also expanded the leadership in the World Cup overall ranking. Friday (240.6) was around nine meters behind, but confirmed their strong shape after third place in Lake Placid in Lake Placid and should be among the medal candidates at the World Cup in Trondheim (February 26 to March 9).
Katharina Schmid took a little step forward. The world champion, who had celebrated her first of 19 World Cup victories in Ljubno in 2017, became seventh. The 28-year-old missed her first podium since the beginning of January by the equivalent of less than two meters.
Primer Agnes Reisch, who last reached the podium for the first time in Lake Placid, was not at the start. National coach Heinz Kuttin had granted the Allgäuer a breather after exciting weeks.