Juliane Seyfarth on top again
Mar 17, 2019·Ski Jumping24 hours after her victory in the first competition of the FIS World Cup weekend in Nizhny Tagil (RUS), Juliane Seyfarth of Germany also won the second competition on the HS 97 hill. With jumps of 97 m and 95 m (230.3 points), the 29-year-old came in ahead of Maren Lundby of Norway (92 m and 90 m; 221.1 points) again. Katharina Althaus of Germany finished third on Sunday.
With her third World Cup win, Juliane Seyfarth underlined that she's in top shape right now and after the second win, she is now also the top favorite in the fight for the overall title of the Blue Bird Tour, that will continue next weekend with two competitions in Chaikovsky. "I am really happy about another victory here in Nizhny Tagil, it seems like the hill here suits me exceptionally well. At the same time surprised that it has worked so well on the normal hill. At the moment I am not focusing on the victory in the overall ranking, I am just trying to jump as far as possible. I am already looking forward to the final events in Chaikovsky. The hills are perfect there and I really like them", explained Seyfarth.
Maren Lundby finished second again and remains the main opponent of Seyfarth in the Blue Bird Tour. "I am really happy about another podium this year. This was a very good competition today, Juliane is so much stronger at the moment, so she deserved this win. I hope to get some rest before next weekend", said Maren Lundby.
Katharina Althaus was back on the podium today after she was fourth on Saturday. "I am really happy to be back on the podium today, I am also very happy for Juliane. It is great that our team is so strong. I am really excited about the final events next weekend", said the German.
19-year-old Nika Kriznar was the best Slovene in fourth, Ursa Bogataj was sixth.
In absence of Daniela Iraschko-Stolz, the two Austrians Chiara Hoelzl and Eva Pinkelnig finished seventh and eighth. "We lost a bit too many points here in Nizhny Tagil, even if the two Top 10 results yesterday and today were okay. But more would have been possible. Chiara Hoelzl won the qualification yesterday and was second in today's trial round. She was not able to repeat this in the competition, even though she did her best. We want to be among the very best again next weekend at the World Cup final", said Austrian head coach Harald Rodlauer.
For the local heroes of Russia it didn't go as well as they had wished again. Best Russian was Sofia Tikhonova in 11th, Alexandra Kustova was 14th.
Juliane Seyfarth leads the Blue Bird overall ranking with 482.9 points, ahead of Maren Lundby (466.6 points) and Katharina Althaus (447.9 points).
Maren Lundby has already claimed the overall World Cup title. With only two competitions left this season, she scored 1773 points, Katharina Althaus (1368 points) and Juliane Seyfarth (1271 points) follow in second and third.
The ladies will travel from Nizhny Tagil to Chaikovsky per train on Monday, the trip will take about six hours. The training and qualification in Chaikovsky will take place on Friday, the two final competitions of the Blue Bird Tour are held on Saturday and Sunday.