World Cup opener

Pinkelnig sixth with Prevc victory in Lillehammer

Eva Pinkelnig finished sixth in Lillehammer.(Bild: GEPA)

Eva Pinkelnig missed out on a podium place at the women's ski jumping World Cup opener in Lillehammer. Pinkelnig finished sixth as the best ÖSV athlete in the superior victory of the Slovenian overall World Cup winner Nika Prevc on Saturday in Norway. 

Right behind her was Lisa Eder, who finished fourth after the first run and missed her second attempt. The podium was completed by the two Germans Katharina Schmid and Selina Freitag.

Emotions back
"The placement is great and the jumps are also getting better and better," said Pinkelnig happily in the ORF interview. She was even more in competition mode after she had identified room for improvement in third place in the mixed competition on Friday. "The start was successful, we can build on that. My self-confidence has grown and my emotions have returned," added the 36-year-old from Vorarlberg.

Sara Marita Kramer (16th) and Julia Mühlbacher (20th) also made a solid start to the World Championship winter with top 20 results. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger had previously been disqualified in the qualification due to a non-compliant suit and was not allowed to start in the competition on the Lysgårdsbakken.

Prevc dominant
Prevc dominated with jumps of 138.5 and 138 m and celebrated her seventh World Cup victory with a lead of more than 22 points over the competition. Pinkelnig (127.5/130) was around 20 points off the podium. "I did a good job today. I'll see if I can do it a bit better tomorrow," said the overall runner-up from the previous season. Eder, however, crashed in the second round at 118 m. "Nerves certainly played a role, I was a bit nervous," said the 23-year-old from Salzburg. Another individual competition is on the program on Sunday (from 12.30 pm).