Second competition, second gold medal for the German women ski jumpers at the world championships in Slovenia. After Katharina Althaus’s individual victory, the ski jumpers as a team were unbeatable.
Anna Rupprecht, Luisa Görlich, Selina Freitag and Althaus impressively won the world title on Saturday (February 25, 2023) ahead of Austria (12.7 points back) and Norway (+ 15.2). The Slovenians again went away empty-handed. So the host is still waiting for the first precious metal.
The DSV team was already leading at half time, but only just. In the final, the German women improved again and celebrated a superior victory. “Huge thanks to everyone. The girls jumped great and I’m happy but exhausted”said Maximilian Mechler, for whom it is the first World Cup as a women’s coach, on ZDF.
DSV quartet on course for gold early on
The German team was already on course for gold after the first round. Rupprecht had given her team an optimal start with 92.5 meters and promptly took the lead. Luisa Görlich landed after 87.5 meters, Germany dropped from first to fourth place. Selina Freitag (91 meters) and Katharina Althaus (97 meters) brought the Germans back to the place in the sun.
However, the gaps to Norway (1.5 points), Austria (7.3) and Slovenia (8.7) were extremely close and promised a hot final.
Strongly defended leadership
But no matter how hard the competition fought, the DSV girls couldn’t be pushed out of pole position in the second round. Rupprecht showed the longest jump of her group with 99 meters and extended the lead. Görlich kept her nerves under control, flew to 92.5 meters and maintained the lead, but lost a few points to the pursuers.
Now it was up to the two strongest German jumpers to bring the gold medal to the finish. Freitag – unlucky fourth in the individual – contributed a strong 97 meters to victory. The lead over the second-placed Norwegians grew to 17.4 points. With individual gold in her pocket, Althaus jumped 94.5 meters and thus her second gold medal.
Germany’s Anna Rupprecht in the jump
Althaus already in the “gold squad” in 2019
The German team already won team gold in 2019. In 2021, the somewhat disappointing fifth place was recorded. While Althaus was there in 2019, Freitag, Rupprecht and Görlich celebrated their gold medal premiere at a world championship.