Until the end, ski jumper Katharina Althaus looked like the winner at the start of the Raw Air Tour in Oslo. But then the difficult wind conditions became her undoing and she fell off the podium.
The victory on Saturday (03/11/2023) went to the Austrian Chiara Kreuzer with distances of 125.5 and 126.5 meters. Her lead over Ema Klinec from Slovenia (123/126.5 meters) ended up being 5.5 points. Norwegian local hero Anna Odine Stroem (129/125) completed the podium.
Althaus is unlucky with the wind
Althaus was still in the lead at half-time. In the second round she was the last jumper from the Bakken, but after difficult wind conditions and 120.5 meters she fell back significantly. In the end, the three-time world champion from Planica only finished fifth. She now also occupies this place in the overall standings of the Raw Air Tour. Leader after three of twelve jumps is Klinec (383.9 points). Althaus’ deficit is 17.2 points.
As so often this season, Selina Freitag was the second best German behind Althaus in sixth place. After 127.5 meters in the first round, she was able to climb another three meters and made up three places. She is now also sixth in the Tour classification.
Althaus starts strong
Althaus had already lost the first points in the overall ranking of the Raw Air series on Friday when Klinec qualified eighth. But the woman from the Allgäu initially reported back with an impressive performance in the competition. With a tailwind, the 26-year-old show jumper from the German team flew 126 meters in the first round and also received excellent marks for posture.
Their lead before the final round was two points ahead. But then the difficult wind conditions thwarted her plans. Early in the flight it was indicated that Althaus would not be able to trump the Kreuzer mark. Accordingly disappointed she left the outlet.
Seyfarth can convince
Juliane Seyfarth, Luisa Görlich, Anna Rupprecht and Pauline Heßler all qualified for the final. However, the top ten places remained out of reach for the DSV quartet. Seyfarth, third place finisher at the 2019 Women’s Raw Air Premiere, confirmed her improving form over the past few weeks and finished 20th with jumps of 112.5 and 120.5 meters.
Görlich had problems on the track and on the take-off and twice jumped 112.5 meters into the snow. She lined up directly behind Seyfarth. Rupprecht as 26th and Hessler as 28th had to sort themselves further back in the field.
Ski flying premiere in Vikersund
The Raw Air series is the Scandinavian counterpart to the Four Hills Tournament. In Oslo, Lillehammer and on the Vikersund ski flying hill, nine competitions are scheduled for the women over eight days. The points achieved in the qualification are also included in the overall ranking.
The women are particularly looking forward to the third stop on the tour. On the Monsterbakken in Vikersund she has her first ski flying competition. The performance in advance is all the more important, because only the first 15 places in the overall standings qualify for the competition in Vikersund. The defending champion of the Raw Air Tour is Slovenian Nika Kriznar.