Nordic World Ski Championships

Team jumping large hill mixed – LIVE from 4 pm

Stefan Kraft, Jacqueline Seifriedsberger, Eva Pinkelnig and Jan Hörl

(Bild: GEPA)

Austria jumped to bronze in the mixed team competition on the large hill at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Trondheim on Wednesday. Gold went to Norway, silver to Slovenia. Eva Pinkelnig, Jacqueline Seifriedsberger, Stefan Kraft and Jan Hörl narrowly beat Germany in the final.

The ÖSV quartet had to settle for third place behind the superior local heroes from Norway, who took gold with a record lead of 61.1 points over Slovenia. Austria was a further 52.5 points behind Slovenia, while Germany came away empty-handed after five mixed World Championship titles in a row.

Eva Pinkelnig

(Bild: GEORG HOCHMUTH)

Austria is still waiting for its first World Championship title in the team competition, which has been held since 2013 and was held on a large hill for the first time this year. It was the fifth medal for Red-White-Red in Trondheim and the third for the ÖSV jumpers after silver in the women's team and normal hill bronze for Hörl. "It's mega cool that we won another medal today," said Hörl, who gained additional confidence for the team competition on Thursday (16:20/live ORF 1).

"Of course we are very happy. Every medal is something special. We were also surprised that it turned out to be so clear-cut," added Kraft. Men's head coach Andreas Widhölzl was also satisfied. "We weren't expected to win a medal," emphasized the Tyrolean.

(Bild: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND)

Norwegians in their own league
In front of the Norwegian royal family, Anna Odine Ström, Marius Lindvik, Eirin Maria Kvandal and Johann Andre Forfang jumped to triumph in rainy conditions. "Amazing, the Norwegians were in a league of their own and the Slovenians also did a really good job," Pinkelnig analyzed. As a reward for the tenth gold medal for the hosts in Trondheim, the victorious quartet received an audience with King Harald V and Queen Sonja, as did all the domestic title holders.

In the end, Hörl secured the medal with a jump of 139 m, 7.8 points ahead of Germany, after Andreas Wellinger had also jumped the same distance over the hill. "It wasn't easy. Andi attacked and I was a bit nervous. I haven't often been in such a position as the final jumper. Everything went well and I'm very proud that I got it down," emphasized the 26-year-old.

Heart-stopping final against Germany
In the end, final jumper Hörl secured the medal with a jump of 139 m, 7.8 points ahead of Germany, before which Andreas Wellinger had also jumped the same distance over the hill. "It turned out well, mega nice. Now I've already got the second one," said Hörl, who gained additional self-confidence for the men's team competition on Thursday, on ORF. Starting jumper Pinkelnig was clearly relieved. "It was a load off my mind," said the Vorarlberg native after winning her sixth World Championship medal, the first not in silver.

Kraft, who narrowly beat tour winner Daniel Tschofenig in training and was not the last ÖSV jumper for the first time in his sixth mixed World Championships appearance, took his medal tally at the World Championships to 14. "A medal is always something special, always nice. We knew that anything could happen," said the Salzburg native with satisfaction. "We showed a very solid performance, but no rockets."

(Bild: GEORG HOCHMUTH)

Happy ending for Seifriedsberger
Seifriedsberger experienced a disappointing day with a happy ending. The Upper Austrian, who had been sitting on the bakken with a slight physical ailment, failed to fly at all with jumps of 117 and 117.5 meters. "I'm not entirely happy with my jumps there, but we worked quite well as a team, the guys were really strong. But it's definitely not what I'm capable of. Apparently Trondheim is a bit difficult for me," said the 34-year-old, who had received tips from Kraft during the half-time break, after her seventh World Championship gold medal. But she was still "super happy" about her second medal at the season's highlight.

The ÖSV eagles still have two medal chances in Trondheim on Thursday with the team and on Saturday in the individual on the large hill. Gold is certainly the goal, Kraft emphasized with a view to the team competition. "We definitely want to win that, but we have to go full throttle. The others are not sleeping." Hörl warned of the competition, saying that there are basically no medals up for grabs. "Everyone is in very good shape, everything has to come together." For the women, the World Championships end with the individual competition on Friday.