Inspired Indrackova wins first Junior Worlds title

Anezka Indrackova (CZE) overcame the defending champion and a delay of more than two hours to win her first Junior World Championships title on the Normal Hill in Lillehammer. The Czech celebrated in disbelief after landing jumps of 95m and 98m to finish on 236.2pts - 2.3pts ahead of 2025 champion Ingvild Synnoeve Midtskogen (NOR).

“I think this it the biggest achievement I’ve ever done, I’m just so happy!” Indrackova said.

Indrackova’s first gold comes at her fourth Junior Worlds, with her previous best individual finishes a pair of eighth places in 2025 and 2022. At the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics she claimed her first top-20 Games result with 18th in the Normal Hill Individual competition.

Midtskogen had been aiming to defend her World title on home snow with jumps of 94m and 93.5m earning her 233.9pts.

“It’s nice to get silver although of course it’s not as good as last year,” the Norwegian said.

“Even though I got gold last year I’m still happy with silver. I’ll go to Lahti now to try and get as many World Cup points as I can.”

The bronze medal went to Finland’s Sofia Mattila, who recorded the longest jump of the day with 99m in the opening round. A difficult landing placed her eighth overall after the first round on 106.3pts.

Mattila and the rest of the field had to wait more than two hours for the final round after high winds halted the competition mid-afternoon. But the delay didn’t faze the Finn, as she landed 97m with a vastly improved score of 123.4pts to move up five places and claim her spot on the podium.

It’s her second podium of the season so far, following second place at January’s Intercontinental Cup in Eisenerz (AUT).

"It's definitely the biggest result for me. The first jump was kind of long but I didn't do the Telemark. I'm happy with the second one!" Mattila said.

Maja Kovacic (SLO), Anna-Fay Scharfenberg (GER) and Kira Maria Kapustikova (SVK) rounded out the top six. France’s Capucine Mesnil, who was third after the first round, ended in seventh.

The action in Lillehammer continues with the Men’s Normal Hill on Thursday, where Stephan Embacher (AUT) will attempt to win his third consecutive Junior Worlds gold. You can watch it live on FIS TV.