Norwegian falls

Seifriedsberger and Pinkelnig jump onto the podium

Jacqueline Seifriedsberger(Bild: AP)

Austria's ski jumpers Jacqueline Seifriedsberger and Eva Pinkelnig finished third in the super team competition at the World Cup in Zao in Japan on Saturday. The experienced ÖSV duo finished with 643.1 points, just 0.1 points behind the second-placed Norwegians Thea Minyan Björseth/Eirin Maria Kvandal. The Germans Selina Freitag/Agnes Reisch won after a total of six runs.

Seifriedsberger, who totaled 93.5, 93 and 95.5 m, had put her team in the lead in the first round, Pinkelnig (92, 98, 93.5) slipped down to fourth place. From heat three onwards, the Upper Austrian and the Vorarlberg native were third, with things coming to a head in the final round. Reisch put the Germans ahead with 99.5 m despite a less than perfect landing. 102.5 m was not enough for Kvandal as she fell after landing. It was just enough for second place. Germany (2243 points) is also ahead of Norway (2028) and Austria (1842) in the Nations Cup.

Before the competition, 36-year-old Pinkelnig had described herself and her 34-year-old team-mate as "grannies" (grandmothers) in the battle against the mostly much younger foreign opposition. "We were definitely the oldest," confirmed Seifriedsberger. "Together we were really strong, the podium is not for the taking." Pinkelnig thought it was "super cool. The route was right." On Sunday (8 a.m.) there is still an individual competition on the normal hill on the program, Pinkelnig finished third in the first competition on Friday.