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WOMENS SKI JUMPING USA NEWS | ||||
L-R: Line Jahr, Lindsey Van, Ulrike Graessler
We had a good crowd again for this comp, much like last year. Conditions were quite good for the comp,
no wind and a landing hill that was in much better shape than the previous day. Part of the way through
the first competitive round a big hole formed in the left track of the inrun. It was easy to see because
so many of the ladies left skis would jump pretty severely to the outside at exactly the place each time.
As is always the case, the skiers at the end of the round handled the problem a bit better so they jumps
were still pretty good.
After the first round, the results were close and in our favor. USA was 1st, 2nd, 10th, and 15th.
The 10th and 15th may not look too impressive but the points were pretty close and the possibility to
move up was pretty good.
During the break the track needed to be repaired. I am not sure how this happened but one of the people
working on the inrun was Miran Tepes, the Asst. Race Director for the men's World Cup Ski Jumping. He
was on his way to Lillehammer for the World Cup and stopped by to watch the ladies.
The second round got a little bit tougher. Due to the track repairs and the extra long wait we were now
much later in the evening than official training was and the air was as still as can be. Our ladies had
a bit of a tough time, I think the waiting around had a little bit of a negative effect. Abby had a
better jump but lost her balance over the knoll which cost her some meters. She moved down one spot
to 16th overall. Alissa had a pretty similar jump to her first one, just short of the k-point, and
finished 11th. Ulrike (GER) had a great 2nd jump, 97.5 meters, after sitting in 6th after the first
jump she put the pressure on the top 5 to jump really far. She was followed by Line (NOR) in 5th place.
She put down a jump of only 93 meters but made up a lot in style over Ulrike to take the lead.
Lisa and Anette had average jumps of 87.5 and 91 meters respectively, and were unable to take over the lead
from Line and Uli. The last 2 skiers on the jump were Jess and Lindsey. Jess was first to go. After having
some really good jumps on this hill we thought great things were in the bag for the ol' USA. But a little
too much tension and trying a little bit too hard, and unfavorable wind, made Jess miss the take-off and
revert to her old ways, she landed at 86.5 meters with only average style, and with the points so close
it was not enough to keep her in the top group. Last jumper, Lindsey, at the top. The wind was still
no good when the light turned green. Lindsey managed to have a great jump and as soon as she left the
take-off we all knew where she was going...to the bottom. She had the longest jump and the best style
of the comp. She won by a large amount, 21 points ahead of 2nd place. Its a pretty nice way to end a
very long season.
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