Ski jumper Ema Klinec wins World Championship in Oberstdorf
Oberstdorf, 25 February - Ema Klinec won a ski jumping event at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany on Thursday becoming the first Slovenian female ski jumping world champion. The defending champion, Norwegian Maren Lundby, won silver, while Japanese Sara Takanashi won bronze.
Ljubno ob Savinji
Slovenian ski jumper Ema Klinec.
Photo: Slovenian Ski Federation
File photo
"I can't believe it! I want to thank all of you who believed in me," said the 22-year-old winner. "After the final jump I didn't feel I could win. But I did the best I could, and I made it," she told the organisers.
With 279.6 points, she was 3.1 points ahead of Lundby and 3.3 points ahead of Takanashi, also a former champion and a record holder in world cup victories, which Klinec has none.
The new world champion landed at 105 metres in the first series with an excellent Telemark style but was still one point behind Austria's Marita Kramer, who jumped four metres longer but just barely managed to stay on her feet. A footage of the jump in slow motion revealed a touch, so Takanashi and Lundby were the only ones left in the battle for medals.
In the finals, the Norwegian managed 99.5 points. Takanashi jumped half a metre longer but scored 0.2 points fewer. Klinec landed at 100.5 metres, again delivering a good landing. Kramer jumped 98 metres, with some problems during landing to finish fourth.
The other Slovenian finalists were also successful, with the best Slovenian female jumper this winter, Nika Križnar, finishing fifth (257.5), Jerneja Brecl (244.6) ninth and Urša Bogataj (235.9) thirteenth.
A new opportunity for medals will come on Friday when a women's team event is scheduled.