Ski jumper Katharina Althaus proved her gold ambitions in the qualification for the World Championships on the large hill. The girl from Oberstdorf won the preliminary round in Planica, Slovenia, on Tuesday (February 28th, 2023) with a jump of 129.0 meters.
Alexandria Loutitt from Canada took second place ahead of defending champion Maren Lundby from Norway. Althaus can get her fourth gold in Planica on Wednesday (5:30 p.m. / ARD) at her fourth start. Selina Freitag (7th) and World Cup debutant Pauline Hessler (20th) also made it into the top 40.
Anna Rupprecht (42nd), on the other hand, fell after landing and has to watch on Wednesday. “I’m fine. But now I don’t qualify because I fell. I’m really angry because my training was really good.”said the Team World Champion.
Lundby reports back
Defending champion Lundby reported back to the top of the world. The Norwegian took a break in winter 2021/22 due to weight problems and hasn’t finished in the top ten since then, but she’s in her old form in Planica.
For Hessler, the last ski jumping competition in Slovenia will be her World Championship debut. The 24-year-old had previously won the duel for fourth place on the grid in training against team world champion Luisa Görlich, who, like Rupprecht, has to watch on Wednesday.
“Bit of a flying hill”
The big Bakken is “a bit of a ski jump, you can really go full throttle there,” said Althaus. And she went full throttle. The result is several records that beckon Althaus. Combined Johannes Rydzek was the only German to win four gold medals at a World Championships in Lahti in 2017. With a total of eight world championship titles, the Austrian is also the most successful long-distance hunter in history – Althaus can now also discontinue this brand.