Slovenian Ursa Bogataj broke through the competition and won gold in ski jumping
ZHANGJIAKOU, China – Ursa Bogataj went from last to first.
The Slovenian ski jumper won Olympic gold in women’s ski jumping on Saturday night, four years after she had the fewest points in the same competition at the Pyeongchang Games.
“I couldn’t stand the pressure,” she recalled.
He is rich in China for sure.
She hovered 100 meters (328,084 feet) through the air and scored 121 points on her last jump.
“This is my dream,” the 26-year-old Bogataj said. “I can’t believe what happened.”
Sara Takanashi probably thinks the same.
The Japanese star was the favorite at least for the medal, but she finished in fourth place and the disappointment was palpable. Takanashi cried as she took off her skis after the last jump, which she knew would not be good enough.
Germany’s Katharina Althaus won silver for her second consecutive Olympics. The bronze was won by Slovenian Nika Križnar.
After Althaus and Križnar stepped on the podium, Bogataj took a place at the top of the structure and made one of her biggest jumps of the night.
“Maybe it was the energy of the day,” she smiled. “When two good friends stand on the podium at the Olympics, it’s just a dream. We have very good wills and Nika and I feel like sisters. We are very good friends. Our dream has come true.”
21-year-old Križnar might be even happier than Bogataj.
“I’m a really energetic girl,” she said.
Althaus was first after the first round, but she insisted she was not disappointed to finish in second place.
“My old head coach always said, ‘You never lose a medal. You get a medal,'” he recalls. “And I succeeded.”
Surprisingly, Takanashi did not earn a place on the podium. She won a record 61 World Cup matches, won bronze four years ago in South Korea and finished fourth at the 2014 Olympics.
Norwegian Maren Lundbywho won gold at the 2018 Olympics, she decided not to defend the title because she decided to make her physical and mental health a priority.
Marita Kramer from Austriathe most ranked woman in the World Cup rankings was not allowed to compete because she tested positive for COVID-19.
The absence of Lundby and Kramer paved the way for the area of women jumping on a cold night with a wind chill of minus -13 degrees Celsius (8.6 degrees Fahrenheit), while the gusts shook the flags of the participating countries.
Tickets are not for sale at the Beijing Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the event is expected to be attended by about 150,000 invited spectators. About 500 of these fans were in the stands at the National Ski Jumping Center, one of the jewels at the Beijing Games.
The spectacular facility was nicknamed Snow Ruyi after an ancient jade-shaped decoration in the shape of a ski slope, symbolizing happiness.
The women jumped to gold for the third time and each Olympics had a unique winner. Lundby, who was the dominant force in the sport, won four years ago, and German Carina Vogt was first in the inaugural Olympic ski jumping competition for women at the 2014 Sochi Games.
“I hope that ski jumping in Slovenia will become more popular for girls,” said Bogataj. “Maybe he’ll be as popular as the boys in the future.”
On Saturday night, the final lap was postponed by 15 minutes to allow the athletes to take a short break after the first lap took longer than expected.
Althaus jumped 105.5 meters (346 feet) and scored 121.1 points in the first lap. She was closely followed by three Slovenes. In the end, she ran out of gold.
Anna Hoffmanthe only American to jump in China, she won 37th place in her first Olympic appearance.