Japanese ski jumper Nozomi Maruyama is in spectacular form. Today, she won the World Cup competition on the normal hill at Lugnet in Falun, securing her third consecutive victory of the season.
— “These were my two best competitive jumps so far this season,” says the 27-year-old Japanese athlete.
According to the original schedule, the women were supposed to start the World Cup in Falun with jumps on the large hill on Friday. However, strong winds led to a change in the program, and the competition was held on the normal hill instead. The winds presented challenges, resulting in the qualification round being canceled, so all athletes jumped in the first competition round instead.
This did not affect World Cup leader Nozomi Maruyama, who arrived in Falun after winning both competitions in Lillehammer. The Japanese athlete took control of the competition in the first round with a 94-meter jump. She followed this with 91 meters in the second round, giving her a winning margin of 18.5 points over second-place Nika Prevc. Third place went to Austrian Lisa Eder.
— “I’m really happy with my performance. I was a little nervous before the competition because I didn’t manage to execute my training jumps as I wanted. But these two competition jumps were my best jumps in a competition this season,” says Maruyama, who will enter the large hill event as a favorite:
— “Of course I want to win, but my focus should be on my performance and really concentrating on one jump at a time. It’s also very nice to take away the confidence that I’ve succeeded here, especially with the 2027 World Championships in mind,” says Maruyama.
For Swedish jumper Frida Westman, it was just one jump. Westman jumped 78 meters in the first round, placing 38th—2.7 points short of being among the top thirty who qualify for the final round:
— “It was fun to compete in a World Cup at home, but I felt a bit of pressure, and of course it’s disappointing that it didn’t go as I wanted,” says Westman, who was ready on the take-off but had to step back due to the strong winds. This meant her final preparation for the jump was much longer than expected.
— “Jumping itself isn’t too difficult, but it’s a bit mentally challenging to do well when you know the winds are tricky,” says Westman, who will get another chance on Saturday during the qualification for the first-ever World Cup women’s competition on the large hill at Lugnet.
The two competition rounds will be held on Sunday morning, starting at 10:15.
Photo: NordicFocus
RESULTS
Nozomi Maruyama, Japan, 229.6 points
Nika Prevc, Slovenia, 211.1 points
Lisa Eder, Austria, 209.3 points
All results are available on the FIS website.