Sucessful Norwegian day at Continental Cup in Eisenerz
Jan 23, 2021·Nordic Combined
After a windy day on Friday, the Erzberg Arena in Eisenerz presented itself with heavy snowfall for the second FIS Continental Cup competition on Saturday.
Former ski jumper Svenja Würth was able to handle the conditions best and landed the longest jump to 96.0m (97.2p.). Second place after jumping went to Friday’s winner Gyda Westvold Hansen (94.5m, 95.5p.). A jump, which brought her 7 seconds behind the German. Third was Sophia Maurus with a jump to 92.5m (94.9p.; +9 seconds). Strong cross-country skier Mari Leinan Lund (92.0m, 90.5p.), Veronica Gianmoena (91.0m, 89.9p.) and Annika Sieff (91.5m, 88.3p.) completed the top six.
During the cross-country race it only took Westvold Hansen a few hundred meters to make up her disadvantage and take over the lead from Würth. A position she was able to keep until the end of the race. Behind her however, it was a very close affair. Strong cross-country skier Anju Nakamura, who was 9th after jumping with a disadvantage of 51 seconds once again showed a great performance on the thin skis. Austria’s Lisa Hirner made a huge step forward in comparison to the day before and also Mari Leinan Lund all were fighting for a spot on the podium. In the end in was Nakamura and Hirner sprinting for second and third place with the better ending for the Japanese. Fourth place went to Leinan Lund (+ 53.8 seconds), fifth was Ema Volavsek from Slovenia, who also showed a great cross-country performance (+01:03.6), sixth place once again went to Annika Sieff (+01:27.6).
Just like the day before the men’s jumping winner was Christian Deuschl from Austria, who landed a jump to 103.0m (119.2p.). He was followed by Norway’s Espen Andersen (102.5m, 116.1p., +12 seconds) and yesterday’s winner Stefan Rettenegger (100.0m, 111.4p., +31 seconds). Harald Johnas Riiber (98.0m, 107.2p.), Simen Tiller (97.5m, 106.6p.) followed on rank four and five. Sixth was only 16-year-old Jiri Konvalinka (99.0m, 105.4p) 55 seconds behind Deuschl.
Even though the Austrian tried everything to defend his lead, already by the end of the first lap Andersen caught Deuschl and took over the lead. Just like his female teammate the Norwegian was able to maintain his spot in the sun until the finish line. In the end he celebrated a clear victory ahead of Rettenegger (+21.5 seconds). The places behind them however were highly competitive. Philipp Orter, Simen Tiller, Harald Johnas Riiber, Leif Torbjoern Naesvold and Manuel Einkemmer all had a chance to reach the third spot on the podium, but in the end it was Orter (+33.0 seconds) who was able to win the finish sprint against Tiller (+33.6 seconds). Riiber (+37.4 seconds) and Naesvold (+43.7 seconds) on rank five and six topped off a very good Norwegian team result.
And also Lars Buraas once again showed an outstanding cross-country performance with the fastest time of all competitors and ended up on rank nine, after having been 45th after the ski jumping part.
