Austrian championships: Eva Pinkelnig and Manuel Fettner on the large hill in front
The Austrian championship title also goes to Eva Pinkelnig on the large hill. The faces on the podium in Bischofshofen are the same as in Ramsau, but the men’s title holder with Manuel Fettner is different.
Flew far and landed beautifully – this is exactly how Manuel Fettner made himself the Austrian state champion on the large hill on Sunday afternoon. On the Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze in Bischofshofen, the team Olympic champion jumped on 145.5 and 134.5 meters and 292.2 points. In Fettner’s second individual title, Daniel Tschofenig jumped with 141.5 and 137 meters and 263.8 points to the silver medal and thus to his greatest success in an Austrian championship. Bronze went to Michael Hayböck with 141 and 135.5 meters and 260.5 points, who had skipped the normal hill decision the day before.
“Especially the first jump was really cool, it was very good for me. Was a cool day today”, Fettner analyzed with satisfaction, although he qualified: “State champion or not, the most important thing is that the form is right. That was the case in the summer and that makes me very positive so shortly before the start of the World Cup.” Stefan Kraft, who celebrated the normal hill title in Ramsau the day before, scraped the podium by just 0.4 points in fourth place. Daniel Huber was not at the start again after his cartilage damage in his knee.
Pissing outclassed competition
In the women’s competition, Eva Pinkelnig jumped up even more in her own league than the day before in Ramsau and proved that she can also be counted on on the large hills. 117 and 130 meters brought her 214.5 points and thus a superior success: her advantage over Chiara Kreuzer was 22.7 points, who jumped to bronze with 116 and 121 meters and 191.8. Sara Marita Kramer had to settle for bronze after 108.5 and 125 meters and 177.2 points.
“Double state champion sounds very good! It is a confirmation that we worked very well in the summer. We have changed a bit and also found new communication channels. I just found trust in the team and in myself. It’s great for ski jumping,” said the now six-time Austrian champion, summing up her summer. Compared to the normal hill decision, the field of participants was reduced from eight to seven, since the Viennese Meghann Wadsak decided not to take part in Bischofshofen.