Women's ski jumping

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Nika Prevc, Eva Pinkelnig and Katharina Schmid

(Bild: APA/BARBARA GINDL)

At last she has also scored: Eva Pinkelnig has achieved her first victory of the season at the women's ski jumping World Cup in Villach!

The 36-year-old from Vorarlberg came out on top on Epiphany Day with jumps of 95.5 and 97 meters ahead of the previous day's winner and World Cup leader Katharina Schmid from Germany and Nika Prevc from Slovenia. For Pinkelnig, it was the 16th World Cup victory of her career. She thus drew level with Daniela Iraschko-Stolz as Austria's record holder.

Pinkelnig had only finished on the podium once this season, in third place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on New Year's Eve. In the second competition on the normal hill in Villach, however, the overall World Cup winner from 2022/23 produced two excellent jumps and won by a respectable margin of 7.1 points.

The result:

(Bild: live.fis-ski.com)

"The emotions came out a bit in the other direction yesterday, which is also very important. There were also a few tears," Pinkelnig referred to 7th place the day before. The last few weeks and months have not been so easy. "There are always wars in my head, which everyone knows. I've lost a few," revealed Austria's Sportswoman of the Year 2023. "As strong as my head is in a positive direction, it sometimes goes in the other direction too. It was unbelievably strong that I was able to get that across today and stay with myself. The fact that I also managed to win is the icing on the cake."

Villach good ground for Pinkelnig
In the ninth competition of the season, the winner was not Prevc or Schmid for the first time. The day before, Jacqueline Seifriedsberger had finished third behind the dominant duo in the World Cup. It was Pinkelnig's third victory in Villach after a double at the end of 2022. Last year, the ÖSV figurehead finished second twice behind Prevc in the home event, and the hill had been slightly adapted for this year.

Changing wind conditions
The competition was characterized by changing wind conditions. The top 7 were separated by less than five points after the first round. Second-placed Pinkelnig and her third-placed team-mate Lisa Eder were both less than one point behind the leading Prevc. After 93.5 meters in the first jump, Eder fell to 86 meters in the second jump and dropped back to 7th place. Pinkelnig, on the other hand, conjured up the highest distance of the day in the snow. "I just concentrated on myself, on feeling myself - not on what was going on outside. That worked incredibly well," said the winner about the conditions.

Seifriedsberger improved from twelfth intermediate place with a 96-meter jump to eighth place just behind Eder. "I know I've got what it takes, I'm on the right track," said the Upper Austrian. Julia Mühlbacher landed in 19th place after jumps of 84.5 and 87.5 meters. The Women's World Cup will take a break next weekend and will then continue until the end of the month with four competitions in Japan - two each in Sapporo and Zao.