Ski jumper Katharina Althaus celebrated a superior victory in the World Cup six days before the first World Championship decision in Planica. The Olympic silver medalist from Oberstdorf achieved her sixth win of the winter in Rasnov, Romania. Austria’s Eva Pinkelnig, the leader in the overall World Cup, followed in second place with a clear deficit.
“The second jump was really good. I wanted to stay relaxed and give everything,” said Althaus, who had already won in Transylvania in 2018, on “ARD”.
After a good first jump of 89.5 m, Althaus was still in second place before a dream jump of 98.5 m ensured victory. In the end, Pinkelnig was more than six meters behind, third place went to the Norwegian Eirin Maria Kvandal.
In the battle for the crystal ball, Althaus now has 1,193 points, reducing the gap to Pinkelnig (1,402) by 20 points. “Of course I want to stay tuned and take everything with me,” she said.
The second best German was Agnes Reisch in 16th place. The only 18-year-old Michelle Göbel made it into the points in her World Cup debut as 23rd, Juliane Seyfarth had to settle for 24th place.
Selina Freitag, Luisa Görlich, Pauline Hessler and Anna Rupprecht, nominated for the World Championships, did not start.
On Saturday (10:00 a.m.) the last competition before the World Championships will take place in Rasnov. In Planica, Althaus and Co. will be fighting for the individual medals on the normal hill on Thursday (5:00 p.m. / ZDF and Eurosport).