Austrian ski jumping pedigree on show with gold in mixed team event
Austria showed just why it is a traditional ski jumping powerhouse on Monday by securing a dominant victory in the mixed team event.
Austria’s score of 986.4 points was 48.4 more than their closest rival at the Les Tuffes Nordic Centre. Japan took silver ahead of France, who edged out Russia by a mere 6.3 points.
Such is the strength of the Austrian team that three of its quartet competing on Monday were double gold medallists at the Lausanne 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games by the end of the day.
“We are all in very great form and had good jumps, so I already thought of a medal today,” said Stefan Rettenegger (AUT), the Nordic combined men’s individual champion. “Our trainers are a big part in this. They teach us many good things. This is the secret.”
Marco Woergoetter (AUT), who had already won gold in the men’s individual ski jumping, added: “We knew if everyone brought their performance, we can win a medal.”
Germany were leading after the first two jumps of the first round but a disqualification for Michelle Goebel (GER) for failing to meet ski regulations took the team out of contention.
“My teammate is disqualified, but it’s normal in this sport,” Jenny Nowak (GER) said. “We are one team, and we will work together.”
Japan was buoyed by the presence of Nordic combined junior world champion Miyazaki Ayane, silver medallist in the Nordic combined women’s individual, but the team format brought a different form of pressure.
“My performance today is not as good and I was nervous because I knew that if I didn’t jump well it would affect the entire team,” she said. “But we have good teamwork.”
The French team were thrilled to win a medal in front of their home crowd.
“We were not expecting a medal so we are very happy, it’s very cool,” Emma Treand said. “We fought for it and thought it could still happen.
“The wind conditions were quite tough and not ideal to jump, but everyone had the same conditions. The public were really supportive for us so it was a big help.”
The competition brought and end to the ski jumping events at Lausanne 2020, with Austria claiming two of the three golds on offer. The ski jumpers will, however, be back in action on January 22 in the Nordic mixed team event.