Slovenia edge out Germany to win Mixed Team in single round

Slovenia won the FIS Ski Jumping Mixed Team event in Willingen (GER) after Domen Prevc pipped Germany to the top spot by 0.6 points in the last jump of the first round, after the second round was cancelled due to strong winds.

Nika Vodan and Timi Zajc’s opening jumps secured the lead for Slovenia early on, and despite Nika Prevc falling short in the third jump to put them 24.4 points behind, her brother Domen Prevc’s 128.5m jump snatched the lead over Germany to claim victory with 295.4 total points.

Vodan said of Slovenia’s win: “It was really tough conditions, so I’m happy for my jump. I really believe in my team and I believe til the end, and we made it to first place, that is what matters the most.”

Germany led the field going into the last jump after Selina Freitag provided the team with an impressive 132m jump and 95 points, which they hoped would be enough for a home win for the team. However Philip Raimund’s last jump of 121m resulted in a tense finish with Prevc to follow, and ultimately the German’s efforts were not enough to hold on for first place.

Agnes Reisch, who opened the jumps for Germany, was pleased with second place despite being so close to victory and after battling against the wind. “It was super cool in the home venue,” she said. “I would have liked to provide a little more support, but I did my best and the wind conditions were difficult for everyone. So I'm extremely happy that we got second.”

Freitag, who used the wind nicely to perform one of the best jumps of the day after only having one training jump before the start of the competition, agreed with her team-mate. “It’s incredibly cool to jump under difficult conditions and almost be right at the front,” Freitag said. “So I'm incredibly proud of our team and our performance today.”

Japan, who were the favorites coming into Willingen after winning the opening Mixed Team event in Lillehammer (NOR), came in third after Sara Takanashi fell short in the first jump to earn 33.2 points, leaving them in ninth place and a lot of ground to make up.

There will be disappointment for her teammate and Olympic champion Ryoyu Kobayashi, who was hoping to lead the team to another victory in this event heading into Milano Cortina in a week’s time.

Strong winds resulted in delays for many of the athletes in the first jump, combined with heavy fog and cross-winds later through the round which resulted in the cancellation of the second round.

For the full FIS Ski Jumping World Cup calendar click here.