By Mitch Phillips
ZHANGJIAKOU, China (Reuters) – A trio of Slovenians were poised to battle for the first ski jumping medals of the Beijing Olympics on Saturday as the women’s normal hill competition began under lights as darkness fell on the Zhangjiakou mountain resort.
Ursa Bogataj, Ema Klinec and Nika Kriznar were the second, third and fourth-best qualifiers for the final based on current world rankings, behind favourite Katharina Althaus of Germany and ahead of Japan’s multiple World Cup winner Sara Takanashi.
Kriznar set the standard in the practice run earlier on Saturday with a monster 107.5 metre jump, while Bogata was the only other jumper to go beyond 100.
No Slovenian has won an Olympic ski jumping gold, though Peter Prevc claimed a silver and a bronze in Sochi in 2014, the year the women’s event was added to the programme.
A few hundred local fans, who had two Chinese jumpers among the early starting outsiders to cheer, enjoyed breezy but relatively balmy weather at -14 degrees Celsius after the jumpers had to deal with chill winds and -23 degrees earlier in the week.
Althaus, who won silver four years ago, saw her chances of reaching the top step improve considerably after Norway’s Pyeongchang champion Maren Lundby opted not to defend her title, and Austria’s World Cup leader Marita Kramer was ruled out nL1N2UD01T by a positive COVID test on the eve of the Games.
Althaus will be the last of the 40 finalists to jump in the first of two attempts, with the two totals – a combination of distance and style points – tallied for a combined score.
Takanashi won bronze four years ago and is desperate for the ultimate prize to complete her glittering CV that includes a world title and more than 60 World Cup victories.
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips; Editing by Ken Ferris)
