Last year’s winner Germany had to settle for the unpopular fourth place in the mixed competition this time. Japan won the opening competition in Lillehammer, Norway, ahead of Slovenia and Austria.
Katharina Schmid, Selina Freitag, Philipp Raimund and Felix Hoffmann competed for the German Ski Association (DSV). The places were allocated based on training performance. Schmid opened for Germany.
Schmid: “Some life is still missing”
Lillehammer is actually one of her favorite ski jumps, but this time she had her problems. It was over at 113.5 meters. “I still lack confidence in the system and in the jump. It’s clean, but still lacks some life“, the Oberstdorfer explained her jump in the Sportschau interview.
Raimund: “It’s great to be in the snow again”
Philipp Raimund, the Summer Grand Prix winner, did better. The 25-year-old sailed to 129 meters and gained points. “I was a bit nervous because the training jumps didn’t go as I wanted. Now in the competition I’ve managed it – but there’s still room for improvement,” said Raimund, who was happy that the ski season had started: “It’s great to be in the snow again.“
After him came Selina Freitag, the “long-term runner-up” from last winter. The “permanent second place” last season had to struggle with the jump. It landed at 118.5 meters. The last of the quartet was Felix Hoffmann. The 28-year-old impressed in training with the third-best distance and his jump also went far in the competition: with his 135 meters, the German champion brought the DSV team back to the podium places.
Despite significant improvement – missed the podium
In the second round, Schmid showed a significantly better jump of 125 meters. Raimund also gained ground and increased his distance to 134 meters. The podium was now within reach. The gap to the third-placed Austrians was only 12.4 points. Freitag also improved and was visibly relieved after her 125 meters. But despite the good jump – the gap to Austria increased again. Because Lisa Eder achieved a fabulous jump at 133 meters. Hoffmann’s 136 meters were no longer enough to catch up with Austria.
Japanese team in a class of its own
This time Japan could not be beaten in Lillehammer. Nozomi Maruyama, Ren Nikaido, Yuki Ito and Ryoyu Kobayashi kept the competition at bay. They beat Slovenia by 8.9 points. The third-placed Austrians were 10.1 points behind the Japanese quartet.